The Sound Of Silence
by Agent Striker
Summary: It started with a body and ended with a 16 year old girl in a comma, a 6 year old in Gibbs care, and two missing agents. Can the team, or what's left of them, solve the murder of a not-so-perfect Marine? FIRST full-length NCIS fic! TIVA/McAbby/some Jibbs
1. Prologue

**Reedited by my beta AsItThunders!**

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue:<strong>

_The dark sky lit up with a strike of lightning and a crash of thunder. The storm was getting increasingly worse and the night was darker than what she imagined Hell would be. She adjusted her rubber boots and continued the trek from her car to the small trailer where she would meet the buyers. Shifting the weight of the bag of groceries resting in the crook of arm, she cursed the rain and the cold November wind. _

Just one more week, _she thought to herself, _one more week and all those little brats will be off **my** hands-

_She never got to finish her thought or even take another step. A knife slid through the darkness and stabbed her in the back, an ironic ending if you knew the whole story. But really, it was hardly the end of her story._

_She was about to become a center stage Marine._


	2. Chapter 1

**Reedited by my beta AsItThunders!**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong>

Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo zipped up his backpack with a feeling of satisfaction. It was eleven thirty-two on a Friday, and he was finished for the weekend. He had three dates, four new movies to watch, and it was a _four-day_ weekend to boot. So what if Gibbs was a little pissed that he had taken a half-day? Gibbs had to be pissed at someone, and it might as well have been him since he wasn't going to be there.

Tony stood, gabbed his bag, and was about two steps from his desk when his partner Agent Ziva David sashayed past him back towards her desk.

"Why are _you _in such a good mood Zee-vah? You're not the one who has the afternoon off."

"You will not have for much longer," she fairly sung.

DiNozzo looked sick for a moment. He spun around to head towards the elevator, but a voice echoing over the bullpen stopped him. "Where do you think you're going DiNozzo?"

"Home, boss. I have the afternoon off."

"Not anymore. We've got a dead Marine in Carolina County."

"But boss—" Tony began with a whine.

_Slap!_

"Never mind, boss," Tony said glumly as he followed the rest of his team towards the elevator.

"Whiney baby," Ziva laughed.

"Cry baby," McGee corrected.

Ziva looked lost. "He is not crying, he is whining."

McGee shrugged. "I know, but the term is cry baby."

"Americans and their idiots."

"Idioms," correct Tony as the elevator doors closed.

"No, I meant idiots."

* * *

><p>Located about an hour and a half from Washington D.C., Carolina County was not the most happening place. It was small. In fact, it was so small that the population density was less than fifteen people per square mile. There was only one elementary school, middle school, and high school in the whole county. One grocery store, a strip mall with three stores, a gas station, and a couple bars were the only places to go, and there was one factory and little run down church where everyone had worked at one point or another. The people were low class citizens—not too rich, not too happy, and not too bright. There was a high rate of alcoholism, pregnant teens wild Friday nights, trailer parks, and the tangible urge to just <em>get out<em>. Carolina County was one of those places where people reach graduation and either leave without looking back or stay to have half a dozen kids and regret it for the rest of their lives.

Three of the county's smartest teens were the ones who found the body of the female Marine one day in early November. The eldest was seventeen-year-old Cole Dalton who was handsome with short blonde hair and green eyes. He was wild, hell bent on blowing this town on his eighteenth birthday; Cole didn't have any plans beyond a road map stuffed under the seat of his junkyard truck.

His companions were twins, born to a fourteen-year-old mother with an axe to grind, named Cain and Abel Haze. Cain, who usually went by CeCe and was older by seven minutes, was born with her father's black hair and her mother's blue eyes, but she'd never really known just how pretty she was. She was working toward a college scholarship because she wanted out of that town so badly she could taste the sweetness of freedom on her tongue. That liberty would come just a month after Cole would split unless she could convince him to wait and take Able and herself with him. Of the pair of them, she was the one who would defend her mother, even if she had left when Cain and Abel were just four.

Abel looked a lot like his sister, the same hair and the same eyes, but he lacked the energy to try and earn his way out of the town. He wasn't as smart as Cain, but he could deal with that. Not everybody went to college, right? Besides, fixing cars didn't require a college degree, and that boy was good with cars; he'd been jacking them since he was thirteen. Brother-sister twins aren't always very close, but Cain and Abel were like each other's other half. Abel would follow Cain out of the town, and Cain would stay for her brother. Cole was the only person who really didn't care that he got both twins for the price of one.

When the NCIS team finally arrived, they found the three local law enforcement officers huddled around the bed of a rust Chevy, apparently "interrogating" three surly teenagers.

At the sound of the team's truck engine, the sheriff left the group and approached Gibbs' team, "Y'all those Marine police?"

"That's us. Where's the body?"

The sheriff spat a long stream of tobacco juice between Ziva's feet as he leered at her. Luckily for the sheriff, Ziva was not longer a Mossad agent, or she probably would have killed him on the spot. "The body's over yonder by that White Pine."

The team began walking, and Tony asked, "Who found the body?"

"A couple local kids out huntin'."

"McGee, start taking pictures. DiNozzo, go interview those kids. Ziva, bag and tag."

Tony DiNozzo strode confidently to where the three teens stood around the tailgate of the Chevy. His first impression was that these kids had just stepped of the set of _The Outsiders._ They were dirty, scabby, rough around the edges, and, from what he could hear of their conversation, spoke with heavy Southern accents.

"What are _you _blamin' _me _for? It wasn't my idea to go huntin' down here," the girl grumbled.

"It was your brother's idea to hike all the way down here—" the blond kid started.

"So why are you blamin' me?"

DiNozzo cleared his throat, gaining the kids' attention. "Special Agent DiNozzo, NCIS. Are you the three kids who found the body?"

"Yup," answered the black haired boy.

"Can I have your names and ages?"

"Cole Dalton, seventeen," replied the blond boy with a sneer.

"CeCe and Abel Haze," the black haired girl said motioning to the second boy, "We're both seventeen."

Tony raised his eyebrows a little at the names, but mentally shrugged and continued on with his questions. "Well, did you see anything odd or out of place when you when you came across the body?" Tony asked.

"No. Not unless you count the one-antlered buck we were huntin', which, by the way, we didn't even catch!" Abel said, glaring at the blonde haired boy.

"I stepped on the freakin' body! All I did was scream. You'dve peed yourself," he said throwing his hands in the air.

"You scream like a girl," CeCe said chuckling.

"Like you'd know about being a girl, _Cain_."

"Shut up, retard."

"Make me."

Suddenly, the girl was hurling herself at the other boy, fists flying. It all happened so fast that Tony really didn't even know what was happening until the girl (CeCe, or was it Cain?) had Cole backed against the tailgate, beating the crap out of him. Her brother stepped forward, but as he was reaching out for her arm, the girl whirled around and shoved him backwards with both hands, sending him sprawling into the mud at Tony's feet. Spinning back to Cole, she finished with a sharp jab to his stomach before shoving him into the mud as well.

"Miss—" Tony stepped forward to intervene as she kicked Cole who was splattered with mud. CeCe just twirled around and swung at him with her bony little fist, pulling back her punch just before it connected with the agent's nose… But not before Tony let out a very, very girly screech.

"The big, tough fed afraid of a seventeen-year-old girl?" CeCe taunted.

"Is there a problem here, DiNozzo?" a voice echoed.

He cringed and said, "No problem here, boss."

Gibbs didn't look convinced, and Tony cleared his throat. "So why were you kids hunting down here in the first place?"

"Abel wanted to see the Carney House," Cole muttered from where he sat in the mud.

"What's the Carney House?"

"It's this old Victorian house 'bout a quarter mile down the road that people say is haunted. There's always screamin' and chains rattlin' and stuff," replied Abel from where he sat on the ground, pointing to a leaf-littered trail where McGee was crouched taking pictures of fresh tire tracks in the mud.

"It's being torn down in a few weeks," CeCe added, "we wanted to go inside and see if there was anything good left."

Tony exchanged a look with his boss. They had both come to the conclusion that the Marine had probable headed there because there _really _wasn't anything else around for miles. "I think we should check out this house, boss."

_Slap!_

"You _think_, DiNozzo?"

* * *

><p>Some days, Gibbs was glad he was in charge, and today was one of those days. From his position in the rear, he watched as his agents followed the group of muddy and sullen teenagers. Well, the muddy, teenage <em>boys<em>. The girl was no worse for wear. This may have been strange or even perverted for any other man, but Gibbs studied teenaged girls.

He didn't look at their exterior though; Gibbs looked at their attitudes and posture, their likes and dislikes, and tried to place Kelly among them. Would she have been moody and sullen and punkish like CeCe Haze? He didn't think so. As hard as he tried, he couldn't ever place Kelly, but he really couldn't stop the thoughts. He'd see a group of girls walking downtown and would try to see Kelly with them. Whenever he saw Maddie, he tried to place a twenty-something Kelly beside her.

Gibbs may have looked like he had move on or at least _begun_ to heal, but it was all an act. Behind those steel blue eyes was the soul of a very broken man.

The house looked like it had fallen out of one of DiNozzo's horror movies as it sat on a hill looking out with empty eyes over the rural, empty valley full of trees dressed in their best fall colors. The paint might have been blue at one time, but it had long since faded and peeled away, leaving behind a rotten brown color with only three black shutters left. Most of the windows were missing or cracked, and the front door lay flat on the porch. The chimney leaned precariously against the house, and as the agents cautiously approached the dilapidate structure, a shimmering black crow flew out of a window on the top floor.

"The _Psycho_ House," Tony hissed.

"What?"

"Alfred Hitchcock, circa 1960. Said to be one of his best films. It stars Anthony Perkins as the 'psycho' Norman Bates, who, dressed as his mother, kills the beautiful Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh. The _Psycho_ house still stands at Universal Studio Hollywood, lot number 97."

No one looked particularly impressed.

The group trekked onto the porch with Gibbs taking the lead. As he opened the door and stepped inside, his gut was telling him that there was something very off inside of this house, something evil

His agents were feeling the same thing. Without needing to be told, they spread out: McGee to the left, Tony to the right, Ziva straight past the stairs to the back of the house, and Gibbs—motioning for the local deputy to check outside and the kids to say put—headed towards the stairs.

He didn't get very far.

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Gibbs, gun drawn, on the third step on a set of stairs, looking back towards the direction Tony had just gone.<em>


	3. Chapter 2

**I had a slight plot change so make sure you reread the summary! I'm a little worried about how this is going to work out so please review and tell me how I'm doing. Pretty please? Thanks to my reviewers:**

hotchner

1Styx and Stones1 **(I fixed the spelling error, thanks for pointing that out…MAJOR booboo)**

**I didn't do this is the last chapter, but I'll have the snapshot at the beginning and the end of the chapter...just like the show! ;]**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Tight shot of a gun with the letters Z.D. inscribed on the barrel. <em>

* * *

><p>"Uh- boss, I think you need to get in here. Now," Tony's voice echoed from the direction he had disappeared.<p>

Gibbs didn't like the tone of his agent's voice. "Get those kids out of here," Gibbs called to the deputy that had only made it a few steps off porch.

Crossing the room in three swift steps, Gibbs followed Tony's footsteps into a room that might have been a family room at one time. The walls were crumbling in places with a fireplace full of debris dominating the center of the room while a large hole in the floor dominated the far corner…but Tony was nowhere to be seen.

"DiNozzo?"

"Down here boss, in the basement," Tony's voice echoed from the direction of the hole in the floor. "There's a girl down here, she's in pretty bad shape."

Gibbs pulled a flashlight from his pocket and shown it down to the sound of his agent's voice. The girl in question was curled up in the fetal position pressed against the wall; there was no sign of any movement. Tony was gently picking up her wrist and felt for a pulse.

As if someone had thrown a bucket of water on the girl, she gasped and, with surprising strength and agility, sprung backwards from Tony and backed into the wall.

Tony stood slowly, "Hey, hey. Take it easy. I'm not going to hurt you."

Looking closer at the girl made DiNozzo feel slightly sick. She was so skinny and pale…with only a dirty ratty t-shirt and grungy cutoffs covering her bruised body. One eye was completely swollen shut, with a massive mark covering the entire right side of her face. She was shaking and although he couldn't place what, Tony could see there was something else wrong with her other eye.

"Stay. Away. From. Me," the girl whispered, pushing herself closer to the wall.

"I'm an agent for the government, I'll help you. I won't hurt you."

The girl stood a little straighter but before Tony could say anything, a shout echoed from the back of the house, "STOP! FEDERAL AGENT!"

There was a short pause then what sounded like a shotgun reverberated through the empty house. Shots from a smaller sounding gun answered. As Gibbs darted for the area where the shots had been fired, the Ziva shouted into her comms unit, "Caucasian male, mid to late twenties, brown hair, small build retreating out the back of the house. He is armed, I am going after him."

"McGee, go with Ziva," Gibbs commanded into his comms unit.

There was no reply. The two men exchanged a look, "McGee, report!"

Gibbs' gut was telling him that something was off. "DiNozzo get the girl up here and call Ducky, I'm going after Ziva."

"On it, boss," Tony shouted from the living room. The girl hadn't moved and just watched silently as the agent made a short, one-sided phone call to Ducky informing him of what had happened.

Hanging up his phone, DiNozzo turned back to the girl, "Come on, let's get you out of here."

"Stay. Away. From. Me," she whispered again, leaning back against the wall for support.

"I want to help you but you have to let me."

Before she could protest anymore, the girl took a step away from the wall, swayed for a minute, then crumpled into a heap on the floor.

* * *

><p>By the time Gibbs got to the back of the house, all the gunfire had ceased. An eerie silence descended and Gibbs carefully took a step onto the dilapidated back porch and surveyed the back yard.<p>

Overgrown weeds and shrubs covered nearly the entire space; just a small path was cleared leading away from the house. From the size of the bullet holes in the doorframe, Gibbs deduced that his agent had been positioned there. Carefully, Gibbs cleared the porch and stepped into the yard. There was a strong gust of wind that swept down the entire yard and as the leaves scattered, something on the bottom porch step caught his attention; a dark red smudge that looked sickeningly like blood.

* * *

><p>It seemed to take hours for Ducky to arrive at the old house with a deputy and a gremlin in toe. Tony had been pacing anxiously between the girl on the floor who was resting under his jacket and the hole that had once been the front door. He wasn't good at being the agent with a nice bedside manner, what the hell was he supposed to do when an injured person blacked out, his partners were MIA, and his boss had disappeared over…nine minutes ago now.<p>

"Agent DiNozzo?" A familiar voice echoed through the old house.

"In here Ducky!"

In his recognizable hat and slightly slouched posture, Ducky was a sight for sore eyes. He took a look at the girl on the floor and set to work, for once skipping his long oracle. "What happened to this poor girl?" he wondered aloud.

"I found her in the basement," Tony explained, "she's in pretty rough shape."

"Indeed, she appears to be suffering from dehydration and malnutrition, not to mention she looks as if she has been physically abused."

The young Jimmy Palmer was setting out the gurney as the doctor examined the girl who was beginning to come around. She was mumbling and squirming under Ducky's gentle hand.

"Don't. Hurt. Her," the girl whimpered, "please."

"I'm here to help you, not hurt you. I promise," Ducky said as he motioned to Tony and Palmer to lift her onto the gurney.

The girl seemed to pass put again but as Tony carefully placed her head on the gurney, her eyes popped open and she grabbed at his sleeve, "Horror house. Upstairs, you have to go. Please help us," the girl began to cough so hard she convulsed on the stretcher.

"We need to get her to a hospital directly," Ducky said worriedly, waving Palmer and the deputy ahead. "Where is Jethro?"

"McGee wasn't answering his comms unit, Ziva went after a suspect, and Gibbs went to see what was going on. I'm going to go see what I can do to help.

Ducky nodded and without another word turned and hurried away. Tony turned and headed towards the back of the house, thinking that whatever was upstairs could wait.

* * *

><p>On the porch, Tony noted the same thing his boss had just a few moments before; the bullet holes, the ragged yard, the blood on the step. He also noticed the small path that had been cleared through the brush in the back yard. Guessing that it was his best bet to find the members of his team, he stepped off the porch and took four steps then tripped.<p>

Glancing down, Tony gasped put loud over what he had tripped over. Carefully, he grabbed the still-warm muzzle of a gun that looked eerily like the one that he carried. Flipping the gun over, Tony's heart sank another notch at the initials carved into the barrel of the gun: Z.D.

_Snapshot: Tight shot of a gun with the letters Z.D. inscribed on the barrel._

* * *

><p><strong>This is a difficult story to write…so I hope you all liked this chapter, review please!<strong>

**~Striker **


	4. Chapter 3

**I'm sorry that this is taking so long for me to update guys, schools a lot of work…but I'm trying to do better! Basketball starts soon (bleck) and so hopefully the updates will be about every 2 weeks. I KNOW that's a long time, but it's the best I can do. Thanks to my reviewers:**

aoki-reiko

1Styx and Stones1

julie507

smush68

**The reviews motivate me…so keep 'em coming! Ready or not, here I come!**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Blackness<em>

* * *

><p>"I'm not asking for the entire Navy, I'm asking for backup! Two of <em>my <em>agents are missing and-" Gibbs' face was consorted in anger as he listened to what the Director had to say.

"I don't give a damn. I need eight to ten backup agents out here now. We've got less than two hours of daylight left and time is running out!"

Slamming his phone shut, Gibbs stomped back to where DiNozzo and the three local cops stood in the fading light.

The last hour and a half had been spent searching the wood searching the woods and the surrounding area for Ziva and McGee. Aside from Ziva's gun, there was no sign of them. It was like the eerie house had swallowed them up.

Looking at the clouds rolling in from the west, Gibbs was beginning to think that there was less than the two hours of light left he had shouted at the Director. The only good thing that had happened this afternoon was that the girl Tony had found in the basement was now in stable condition at the Navy hospital in Washington D.C.

Speaking of the girl, or thinking of her as the case may be, Tony hadn't been able to stop thinking of her. He could see her haunted expression and feel her boney hand on his jacket. _"Horror house. Upstairs, you have to go. Please help us." _

Tony's eyes suddenly lit up. "Boss, I think we should check out the upstairs of the house, maybe that's what the girl we found meant-"

"Let's go," Gibbs cut him off. Waving at the deputies, Gibbs commanded, "One of you follow us up, the other two post yourselves at the doors."

Jogging across the yard with a new sense of vigor, Tony took the lead into the house, then, with a slightly slower pace, up the stairs. The stairs and the hallway it connected formed a 'T', and at the top, Tony waved the deputy to stay and went to the right side while Gibbs took the left.

Carefully drawing his gun, Gibbs stepped over a bowed floorboard and counted the doors. Odd sounding yes, but a fact. There were four on his end, three open/missing and one that looked like it had a lock on the _outside _of it.

Clearing the first three rooms only took about three minutes and soon enough, Gibbs was standing at the door with the lock on it. With one hand he carefully tested the door and was surprised to see that it was just dummy locked, the chains and bolts had been put into place but not locked. Listening as he prepared to push, there was a faint sound that he couldn't identify but that was defiantly human.

With accuracy and speed derived from years and years of doing it, Gibbs kicked the door back and shouted, "FEDERAL AGENT!"

Instead of an armed villain with a gun drawn, the only thing in the room was fifteen small beds crammed together and a tiny girl tied to the wall.

Skinner than anyone Gibbs had ever seen, she was half under the bed furthest from Gibbs, crying and yanking all with all her might to get out of the zip-ties that held her wrist. Crossing the room in three steps, Gibbs picked the girl up so she couldn't hurt herself more and in one swift move, cutting her bindings.

Tony heard his boss shout and was standing outside of the door awestruck just thirty seconds later. The little girl had dark brown hair, wide blue eyes, pale skin and was only wearing what looked like a ratty t-shirt that was being used as a dress. Her wrists were dripping blood from where she had cut them with the zip-ties and she was shivering with an amazing force for someone so small.

Without another word, Tony reached into his pocket and dialed for an ambulance while Gibbs shrugged off his coat and wrapped it around the girl, holding her close and whispering something that Tony couldn't make out.

As he hung up the phone, the house shook with a rumble of thunder and Tony felt something in the air had changed. Instead of the set of a horror movie, the house was beginning to really feel like a horror story- and this time, the monsters were real.

* * *

><p><em>Timothy McGee wasn't always afraid of heights. That all started at age ten when he and his sister made a tire swing and had decided to hang it in the tallest tree in the McGee yard. Sarah, being five, wasn't expected to climb the tree, so actually tying the tire swing to the tree was up to Tim. <em>

_He had reached the branch that he had selected easily but just as he shimmied out onto the branch his hand slipped and suddenly the ground was rushing up to meet him. _

With a gasp, his eyes flew open. Looking around, all he could see was blackness and he knew he wasn't lying on the grass in his backyard. Wherever he _was_ lying, it was not his bed either; the ground beneath him was damp, hard, and cold. There was a throbbing in the back of his head that told him movement might not be such a hot idea, but he tried to sit up anyway.

The slight movement of his head sent waves of nausea to his stomach and stars dancing in front of his eyes. As he lapsed back into unconsciousness, his subconscious registered the sight of someone lying just across the room from him.

* * *

><p>Pain.<p>

It was the first thing that registered in Ziva David's mind as she came back to the real world from wherever she had just been.

The second thing that registered was the clingy; damp feeling of her shirt sticking to both her back and her shoulder.

Like McGee, she knew it wasn't a smart idea to move, but unlike McGee, she was literally not able to move herself in the least bit.

Before the pain caused her to black out, she felt that there was someone else near by. Her instincts were screaming at her to get up and neutralize the threat, but her body wouldn't-or couldn't comply.

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Blackness<em>

* * *

><p><strong>A kind of boring snapshot, but that's the game sometimes. We'll be checking in with out MIA agents every once and a while…but part of the story is the reader NOT knowing where they are either…so don't expect to figure that out!<strong>

**The reason I didn't use the Director's name is because I haven't decided if I want this set when Jenny was still alive or not…and yes, there will be some Tiva romance and a bit of McAbby!**

**Review please!**

**~Agent Striker**


	5. Chapter 4

**I'm not sure if it's been two weeks or longer…but the good news here is I got out of basketball! HALLEULIAAAAA! I suck basketballs. Haha, I am so hilarious. **

**So anyways, I give a hearty thanks to my reviewers here in fan fiction land…because rereading my story makes me want to cry it's so bad. **

1Styx and Stones1

smush68

LivieLi

aoki-reiko

ChEmMiE **(true, it was probably unrealistic…but the plot when that way, it has a mind of it's own)**

**So, this is the next chapter laddies and ladies! OH! And what did you think of Tony's **_**worst **_**fear? I laughed so hard! **

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: A short Hispanic woman standing next to a tall, redheaded man, both holding out NCIS badges. <em>

* * *

><p>Abby's lab was hardly ever quiet. There was usually music blasting, machines humming, playful banter, or just general noise.<p>

Tonight was different however. The only light in the room came from the streetlights shining through the windows and the only sound was breathing of the usually hyper Goth.

She was sitting with her back against the wall under the windows staring off into the space. She had gotten the call about the little girls and the missing agents just as she was leaving for a quick Caf-Pow run. As much as he tried, Tony couldn't conceal his worried tone. She didn't know all of the facts, but it wasn't looking very good. It was making her think of the phone call she got after…after Kate died.

Losing Kate had been a horrible, horrible searing pain, but she was dead and there was nothing anybody could do to bring her back. Ziva and Tim were missing, and she couldn't be sure that they were dead or alive, which in her mind was a thousand times worse.

Rubbing her sweaty hands down her bare arms, she seriously considered curling up in a ball on the floor and bursting into tears…but she didn't. Instead she got angry, got strong, stood up, and wiped her eyes, and heading purposely towards the light switch, clicked it on with more force then usual. Strutting around her lab, she turned on all of her babies, jacking up the music slightly louder than usual to fill the empty space around her.

* * *

><p>Gibbs was always one to multi-task, and as he paced in the waiting room of the hospital, he was also listening to DiNozzo's description of the area that had been searched so far. And as of four hours of searching, nobody had found hide nor hair of the two agents. It had begun to rain and the wind was picking up. The Director had decided that, quote 'There was nothing more to be done tonight, the search party will continue searching in the morning" end quote.<p>

Slamming his phone shut, Gibbs seriously considered hurling it across the room at the two young nurses who stood innocently chatting, all smiley and innocent. He couldn't understand why it was fair that some people had the world handed to them on a platter and others were completely forgotten about.

Gibbs knew that it wasn't fair to blame random people for things that other random people had done, but it was distracting his mind long enough that it had cooled down a little bit. He paced his ninth circle around the waiting room, watching the hallway where the little girl had disappeared down, surrounded by a half a dozen medical personnel.

From what he had been able to hear before he was banished to the waiting room, the girl was not in as bad of shape as her companion had been. Words like _shock _and _dehydration _had been flying around as well as some more that seemed like babble to him.

"Agent Gibbs?" The slightly over-educated and overly-socially-awkward young doctor cleared his throat and nervously toyed with his glasses.

"What?" Gibbs growled, mostly to scare the young man. His anger was slowly defusing.

The doctor shrunk back slightly, "Uh-we've finished the evaluations of both girls. The older one has lapsed into a comma, trauma related, she's suffering from dehydration, malnutrition and has several broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and there are lacerations on her back that may have become infected, we need more time to tell for sure. We firmly believe that she will make a full recovery…well, that is if she ever wakes up."

Gibbs really didn't like insecure people. "And the younger one?"

"She is also suffering from dehydration and malnutrition…and she has severe lacerations on her wrists that are very infected, but we got to them in time. She will have some scaring, but there won't be too much damage beyond that. We gave her some sedatives so we could examine her, and we all agree that it would be best if she spent the night here so that if there are any complications…"

Gibbs didn't particularly like hanging sentences, but he let this one slide. He let out a sigh of relief and asked, "Can I see the younger one?"

The doctor nodded, "For a few minutes."

"Lead the way," Gibbs commanded.

The doctor's hand moved toward his brow as if to salute Gibbs, but he caught it just in time, "Yesss, sir," he stuttered, wiping at his brows.

* * *

><p>Tony cursed the rain that was falling in curtains across the road in front of him, making it almost impossible to see. The slow speed that he was forced to travel at was driving him insane and the static of the radio wasn't really helping either.<p>

The silence in the cab of the NCIS van kept dredging up memories that he really didn't want to think about. The van was usually filled with mindless chatter and laughter, but tonight the loudest noise was the rain on the roof. He hoped that Tim and Ziva were someplace dry.

He was playing the denial game, and he knew it. _If _they were even alive, bring dry was probably not one of their top-most priorities.

Flinching as more water dripped from his hair and down his back, he tried to focus his mind on any other topic. Even the thought of having to tell Gibbs the rest of the Director's message (the part he hadn't been able to relay before Gibbs hung up on him) wasn't enough to keep his mind busy.

He kept hearing the gunshots and seeing the blood that was probably his partner's on the step. And McGee's radio silence made him think of poor Abby, working with the stuff he had sent back alone in her lab.

Pressing his foot on the gas, he turned up the speed of the windshield wipers and watched the miles slowly crawl back. He still had part of a team to get back to and the rest of his team to bring home safely.

* * *

><p>Gibbs stepped off the elevator and into the offices, feeling slightly better than he had earlier in the afternoon. Both the girls from that hellhole were okay and he had gotten a message from Abby saying that she had found something. All he had to do was grab the Caf-Pow he had stuck in the refrigerator then he could go talk to the Goth.<p>

However, Gibbs hadn't been expecting to see anyone sitting at any of the desks. A short, dark haired figure sat hunched over something at Ziva's desk and a lanky one was stretched out at McGee's desk.

"Who the hell are you two?"

The tall guy jerked to his feet but the short one took his, no, her time. Stepping around the desk, she reached into her pocket and flipped open her wallet to reveal a badge a lot like his own, and her partner did the same.

"Agents Tatyanna Rodríguez and Hunter Allen. Director Shepard sent for us; we're your replacement agents."

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: A short Hispanic woman standing next to a tall, redheaded man, both holding out NCIS badges. <em>

* * *

><p><strong>Yes, I am aware that Jenny is dead. Which is a very sad fact, I liked how she and Gibbs interacted. So this story is officially set BEFORE she died…this is so that I can write this story without worrying about making it accurate with the 9<strong>**th**** season...and I don't particually like Vance Peachy keen?**

**I am going to start the next chapter tonight, so I will attempt to update THREE more time before Christmas, how does that sound?**

**Reviews make Striker SOOOOOO happy. It's what she wants for Christmas. **

**Love, **

**Agent Striker **


	6. Chapter 5

**Just so you all know, I am starting this chapter on 12/10/11 at 10:39 PM. Updated…who knows?**

**Thanks to my awesome reviewers! **

_Snapshot: __Snapshot: Jenny looking at the offices below her with a look on her face best described as a that sick-to-your-stomach kind of worry._

* * *

><p>"She can make time." Director Jenny Shepard glanced over her reading glasses and at the closed door of her office, knowing it wouldn't stay closed much longer.<p>

_BANG! _She was right, the door was hurled back and hit the wall with such force that it rattled the glasses in the cabinet next to her.

It was a rare occasion when Gibbs _really _lost his temper. Today, however, seemed to one of those rare days. "Good evening Jethro. I'm assuming from your attitude that you've met your new agents."

"I don't need any new agents, I have three perfectly good ones working for me right now," Gibbs growled.

Placing her glasses on the desk in front of her, she seemed to ignore Gibbs. But looking back at him she said softly, "Right now, you have one agent. You and DiNozzo can't do everything. Rodríguez and Allen are here to help you. They are two of the best people in the Miami office."

Gibbs wasn't looking very impressed. He actually looked like he wanted to hurt someone…but he did value his job (and although he'd never admit it, his life), "They're temporary," without waiting for confirmation, he stalked from the office, leaving Jenny with a half-smile of victory on her face.

Glancing at her watch, she sighed. It was ten thirty and the agents had been missing for approximately seven and a half hours. She knew that chances of finding missing persons alive after twenty-four hours seriously decreased. She shook her head in an attempt to expel the thought from her mind, she wasn't about to lose two of her best agents.

* * *

><p>"From the reports, the Marine was Corporal Patricia Lee, age 32. Until she was found dead, she had a spotless record."<p>

Rodríguez shuffled the papers in her hand; "She was on a three day leave for 'personal' reasons…she wasn't due back at work until the day after tomorrow."

Her partner nodded and spoke with a surprising thick and soft Southern accent, "And from her location, she was probably heading to the house with the groceries. So she was probably tied up with whatever was going on with the kids."

"Rule number eight, never take anything for granted," Gibbs said and he moved past the duo that stood looking at a picture of the marine on the TV screen. Digging through a pile of papers on his desk, Gibbs cursed under his breath, "I want to know every single thing Corporal Lee did the day she was killed."

Allen grinned knowing that somewhere, a small battle had been won, "Yes sir."

His partner muttered something under her breath but Gibbs was already out of the office and heading down talk with Abby, cursing the day this was turning out to be.

The two new looked rather pleased with them selves, however. They had just passed the first Gibbs test. They were staying.

* * *

><p>Walking into the lab, Gibbs cringed at the level of the screaming (or what Abby considered music). Punching random buttons on the CD player, Gibbs managed to successfully lower the volume.<p>

"Whatcha got for me Abby?" Gibbs asked, handing the Goth an extra large Caf-Pow.

Abby sighed, "Well, I got a positive match on the blood found on the back steps of the house. It matches Ziva's. I also got a match on the bullets we pulled from the wood casing by the door."

Pounding on her keyboard with more force than usual, Abby pulled up an image that Gibbs found quite odd. It was some sort of pistol, but there was something off with it, "What is that?"

"It's the Metal Storm's O'Dwyer Variable Lethality Law Enforcement pistol. Cited as the world's most advanced pistol, it's completely electronic and it can lay down over a million rounds per minute."

Even Gibbs was wowed by this little tidbit, but it didn't explain where Ziva went. There wasn't enough blood for her to be seriously injured…so where was she?

"Thanks Abs," Gibbs said as he stalked from the lab, punching the elevator button with much more force than what was needed.

Standing in the direct center of the elevator, Gibbs reran the entire morning through his head for the nine billionth time. They followed procedure, they had done every single thing by the book. And yet some how, Tim McGee had disappeared somewhere along the side of the house and Ziva had disappeared somewhere in the backyard while chasing after a very nondescript suspect.

The elevator dinged open and Gibbs headed to the bullpen where his three agents sat, Agents DiNozzo, Allen, and Rodríguez, all staring each other down.

"Boss!" Tony said, popping up from his seat.

"DiNozzo, glad you could finally make it back," Gibbs really didn't sound glad in the least bit.

An awkward silence descended over the crowd, no one was sure what Tony had done to offend Gibbs. Agent Allen was the first to break the silence, "Well, we should all get back to work."

Rodríguez leaned over her partner to point at something on the screen, and he nodded and scribbled something on a sheet of paper. The two worked well together and DiNozzo briefly wondered if they were sleeping together.

Staring at the two, he could easily replace them with himself and Ziva…did people think _they _were sleeping together? That thought, however, was completely absurd. Tony shook his head and tried to focus on Gibbs, who he just realized was talking to him, "…get a couple hours of sleep. Be back by five."

"On it, boss," Tony said, glancing at his watch (which read just after ten). Exiting the bullpen with slumping shoulders, he kind of looked like someone who had had been beaten and broken. And it was partly true; broken but not beaten.

Tony didn't make it home that night though. And not in the way you are thinking either. He sat in the darkness of the parking garage and thought of where his friends were spending their night. He decided to go back up and help with the case, but he never got out of the car. Stress with the temptation of sleep can be too much sometimes.

Jenny stood looking down at the NCIS, watching as DiNozzo sulked from the room, wondering why Gibbs had sent him home; they pulled all-nighters on a regular basis. Everything was a little off with this case; suddenly the simplest things needed more force and more speed to function. Watching the elevator doors close, she could only think of one truly accurate reason he would do this; he was getting ready for a long, long weekend. She had a feeling that nobody else would be going home any time soon.

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Jenny looking at the offices below her with a look on her face best described as a that sick-to-your-stomach kind of worry.<em>

**This seems really choppy to me…what do you think? I won't have my laptop over Christmas break, but I will attempt to update at least…TWO more times. **

**Love, **

**Agent Striker **


	7. Chapter 6

**I lovee Christmas Break! Merry Christmas everybody!**

**Thanks to my awesome reviewers, one of whom is my BEST FRIEND EVER, missy CJ or clover janks as she likes to be called…striker and clover are one hottt duo! **

***Clover at her house 25 miles from Striker's* I hear that bro. **

**Me: lfT wooF**

**Clover: WHAT? **

**Me: Oops, sorry, AIN'T HOES joke.**

**Clover: *SHINY OBJECT* …**

**Me: Yo, clov, you there?**

**Clover: PUPPIESSSSS!**

**Me: I'll take that as a no.**

**Well, sorry, I got kind of off track there, didn't I? THANKS:**

smush68

1Styx and Stones1

AngieFaye76

aoki-reiko

psych-out-girl **(Ps: I LOVEE PSYCH!)**

**You all totally make the super hot category with Clover and I.**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: A woman curled up against the wall of a dark, damp space.<em>

* * *

><p>"Got anything for me yet, Duck?"<p>

The placid Doctor Mallard looked up from the woman he had been working on and nodded at Gibbs, "I do indeed Jethro, nothing too complicated today."

Gibbs urged the doctor on with a nod, vaguely registering the fact that Palmer was slipping out of the doors behind him. He couldn't understand why that kid was so terrified of him.

"The corporal was in very good health, if she wasn't dead now I'd say she would have probably lived another forty five years quite easily…but alas, _"Cowards die many times before their deaths;__the valiant never taste of death but once.__Of all the wonders that I yet have heard,__it seems to me most strange that men should fear;__seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come."_ As the great William Shakespeare said…but listen to me prattle on so. Death occurred around six P.M. She was stabbed once in the back, severing not only her spinal cord but several major arteries. Death was instantaneous."

"Tell me more about the weapon," Gibbs 'asked'.

"It was a smooth-edged blade approximately six inches long and two inches wide, very sharp. I sent the exact measurements up to Abigail. She should have some results in an hour or so."

With barely a nod, Gibbs stalked from Autopsy cursing the hands of time.

* * *

><p>Gibbs disappeared from the bull pen for maybe ten minutes and when he returned, he was shocked…and rightly so. That short Mexican, the one Jenny had sent, was standing on the desk observing the computer screen below her with interest…and all she was wearing was a cut up CIA t-shirt and very short shorts, and while the view was good, it was also slightly unnerving.<p>

"What the hell is going on here?"

Rodríguez shrugged and hopped, "Getting a new angle on the map of the house."

"Do I even want to ask about your clothes, or lack thereof?"

"I had major pit stains, so I took off a few layers."

"She does this all the time," her partner called from where he was sitting (thankfully fully clothed), "and trust me when I say that this is a lot better than if she was whining about her clothing choices."

Still looking shell-shocked, Gibbs wished he hadn't sent Tony home, "Well, since you apparently don't have anything better to do than strip, you had better have some results."

Hunter Allen nodded, and with several more clicks then it would have taken McGee, he pulled up a timeline, "From what we pieced together, the Corporal left her house at exactly twelve forty-three according to the cameras outside her apartment building. She headed south and walked for approximately nineteen minutes before she was picked up by an ATM camera-"

"Where she retrieved two hundred dollars from her voluminous bank account," Rodríguez interjected.

"-which has a balance of nearly seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars," Hunter finished. Scrolling down a bit, he continued, "At one twenty-five she arrived at Excess Eddie's Grocery store where she bought all the things that were found on her person, nine rolls of paper towels, seven boxes of Ramen Noodles, five boxes of generic cereal, a box of band-aids, and some, err, feminine products," Hunter blushed to the roots of his bright orange hair, but no one else seemed particularly offended.

"So where was she between then and when she was killed?" Gibbs asked.

"She arrived back home at two thirty in the afternoon and didn't leave there again until four fifteen, when she picked up her car and drove out to Carolina County. The last time she was seen alive was at four fifty when she stopped at a gas station outside of D.C," Rodríguez said, plopping down on the edge of Tony's desk.

Agent Allen spoke again, apparently recovered from the whole 'feminine product' thing, "Incidentally, her 2007 silver Honda Civic has not been located."

"BOLO?" a voice asked from the elevator.

All eyes turned to see the return of Agent DiNozzo, "And can I ask why you are sitting on my desk?" Tony asked looking at the two agents he had been briefly introduced to.

Rodríguez shrugged, "I'm just sitting here, you got a problem with that?"

Tony's face was a mix of being totally turned on by the fact that there was a half naked girl sitting on his desk and slightly taken aback at her. Tossing his stuff down, he shrugged, "Nope…but what about the BOLO?"

"It's out," Allen confirmed.

Gibbs took a sip of his coffee and looked between his three agents. Taking a deep breath, he formulated a plan, "Allen, see what you can do about the Corporal's computer, take it to Abby if things get to complicated, we're going to need you later-"

"Yes, sir."

"-DiNozzo, see what you can do about starting the search party up again, organization would be great this time…and Rodríguez you go with him. Take the maps and try and go with the chopper and take another look at the land from the air-"

"What about the mine shafts?" Rodríguez interrupted.

"I'll send a couple teams down there," Tony replied, picking up the stuff that he had just dropped…as well as grabbing his razor and fresh shirt from his filing cabinet.

"Okey-dokey," Rodríguez nodded and hopped from the desk.

Leaning down to get her bag gave Gibbs a view that he didn't necessarily need, "And for God's sake, put some real clothes on!" he called at her retreating back.

"On it!"

Gibbs glanced at his watch to see that it was, cringing at the fact it was just midnight. He hoped it had finally stopped raining.

* * *

><p>Ziva's memories were coming back to her in short, painful flashes. She remembered the house; the one Tony had called 'Psycho'. Then she saw the man firing at her from behind a rock of some sort…and she remembered how the gunmen had began to take flight and she had shouted into her comms unit, and then started after him. She only made it a step before a bullet had grazed her abdomen, stopping her for a second before her Mossad instincts had kicked in (without her permission) and she had been off running again; <em>it was just a flesh wound.<em>

After that was kind of a blur. From the stiffness in her limbs, she had sustained some other sort of injuries, none of which had proved to be life threatening…as of yet. Her state of mind was normal enough for her to feel the urgent sense to find her way back to her team, back home.

Slowly, so slowly, she pulled herself into a sitting position, her keen senses picking up that there was no one else around. Standing took a lot of energy, but ten minutes later she stood swaying in the inky blackness of her prison.

Where ever she was, it was damp, eerily silent, and darker than what she imagined the pits of hell to be like. Gingerly taking a step, she felt around for a solid thirty minutes to find the wall, wearing herself out, but she didn't stop.

Taking a deep breath, she began walking, all the while keeping her left hand on the wall. Five hundred and seventy two steps later, it seemed like she hadn't moved at all.

Panting and cursing in every language, Ziva sunk to the floor in a pitiful heap, where she attempted to ignore the fact that she couldn't go another step. Falling into a restless, fever induced sleep, Ziva would have sworn at that moment the walls and floor around her were trembling as though they too were about to collapse under her strain.

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: A woman curled up against the wall of a dark, damp space.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>So, will you give a review…'cause if I get a whole bunch I will be a TON more likely to update three times over Christmas Break instead of two!<strong>

**~Lots of Love,**

**AGENT STRIKER **


	8. Chapter 7

**Well lovies, here I am again, bearing my promised second chapter! I'm so glad that everyone seems to like this story…it's actually turning out better than I thought it would…OH! And you all should go read my story ****Don't Ever Let It End****…especially if you LOVE Tiva, that also came out a lot better than I had thought it would.**

**Thanks:**

1Styx and Stones1

psych-out-girl

Clairebear **(A Tiva follower…we'll see about your request :)**

aoki-reiko

**Bada-bing…so has anybody seen War Horse yet? I LOVE the book so much, me and Clover are going to see it Monday…or Sunday…or Saturday…can you tell we haven't set a date yet? OOH, and how about Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol? I want to see that to. We like romance, action, historical (alright, I like that more than her, but she'll watch one with me.) Sorry, I'm rambling LIKE DUCKY!**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: A flare lighting up the sky in front of the rising sun.<em>

* * *

><p>Early the next morning, Gibbs' cellular device rang at an ungodly volume, making the people who remained in the office of NCIS wonder whether he was deaf or something.<p>

His gruff bark into the phone probably made someone jerk in surprise, but this didn't really seem to bother him. He listened to the voice on the other end of the phone for a second then said, "I'll be right there."

He slammed his phone shut then stalked towards the elevator, cursing this entire case for the millionth time since it began…sixteen hours ago. It seemed like so much longer.

* * *

><p>While Gibbs heading for his destination, Tony and Agent Tatyanna Rodríguez had reached theirs with several gallons of coffee, several changes of clothes, and sixty-three fresh searchers, all rearing and ready to go.<p>

"Last night we mainly concentrated out search in the woods around the house, breaking it up into eight sectors," Tony addressed the crowd through a mega phone…which made him feel very empowered, not that he would ever share that with anybody, "but today we're not only going to search the wooded area but some of the old mine shafts that run parallel to the house from the east," he paused and pointed to the side of the house Tim had disappeared from, "and to the south. You've all been assigned your teams and gotten the description of the suspect we're looking for as well as pictures of our missing agents. If you have any questions, ask AgentRodríguez or myself."

The two agents watched as the parties dispersed. Each group had seven people in it with a total of nine groups. Four groups were searching the woods; each one had two designated sectors to search as well as a tunnel to report to in case of emergency. There was one tunnel, the East tunnel, which would take three of the remaining parties, it went in about a quarter of a mile then split off into three different paths. The South tunnel would require the remaining two groups; it split about three miles in. There were also four deputies from various counties as well as a couple D.C. sent police officers to act as fill-ins for the search parties should they be needed. Tony and Rodríguez, as well as some of the local law enforcement people would take turns joining different groups and manning home base which was located at the house itself.

Set up in a tent around back, it had good views of the land all around and would be the best place to spot a flare.

There were three flare colors, red, yellow, and green. The red signaled some sort of distress; a body had been located, the suspect had been located and was giving some sort of resistance, some new evidence had been found, or there was some sort of injury amongst the searchers. Basically, if a red flare was spotted, a group of officers were needed. Yellow meant that the team was asking to come in for some reason, whether to refuel or to take a short break. Yellow wasn't really used all that often. Green was Tony's favorite; it meant something was finally going right for them. It meant that Tim and Ziva had been found alive and unhurt or that the bad guy had been found and gave in to the searchers.

Red was bad. Yellow was unimportant. Green was good. At least that's what it all boiled down to.

Sighing in annoyance, Tony reread his maps, the BOLOs, chugged down too-hot coffee, burning his mouth, esophagus (that's near your throat, right?), and everything all the way down to his toes. Looking at the two pictures of Tim and Ziva, he would have roared with laughter at McGee's picture; he looked sort of like the first time he met Abby, terrified, completely caught off guard, and surprised all rolled into one Probie-Package. Abby…maybe he should call her and check in later. Ziva just looked hot…as usual.

Cracking his knuckles, he dropped the stack of papers on the table and gave himself a mental shake as he surveyed the valley around him. None of thoughts that had been meandering around his brain recently would help anyone be found.

"Where are those extra maps?" he called out, throwing himself full force into the work ahead, hoping that it might help him forget…for a little while at least.

* * *

><p>"We thought you'd like to know," the doctor finished. This doctor was several years older and had a lot more self esteem as well as people skills then the one who had originally briefed Gibbs about the two girls.<p>

The two gray headed men walked slowly down the hallway, pausing at the door of the younger girl, "Can I see her?" Gibbs asked.

The doctor nodded, "A woman from child services is in there now, but I don't see any reason why you can't drop in."

With a nod of thanks, Gibbs gently pushed the door back, listening for the sound of the little girl's voice along with the overly sugary-sweet voice of the child services lady.

"Wouldn't you like to have a new mommy and daddy…and maybe some new brothers or sisters?"

The little girl hadn't seen him yet, so Gibbs stood silently watching the exchange. The little girl was sitting up with her skinny knees drawn up to her chest, her back pressed against the railing of the bed, as far away from the woman as possible. She was astutely sucking her thumb and her bright blue eyes regarded the woman with unguarded suspicion. She looked better, Gibbs thought, someone had given her a thorough scrubbing and her shiny brown hair hung in innocent waves to just below her shoulders.

Almost at the exact same time, the woman and girl noted Gibbs. One jumped and one didn't.

"May I ask who you are and what you are doing here?" The woman demanded, standing up aggressively.

"Agent Gibbs, ma'am. My team and I found the girls and I wanted to see how they were doing," Flashing his badge, Gibbs smiled at the girl.

The woman's face lit up, "So _you_ found Lacey and Megan."

Gibbs face showed that he obviously wasn't in on the name thing, so the woman explained, holding up a sheet of paper, "She won't talk to anyone. At all. The most I've gotten out of her is this."

Taking the piece of paper, Gibbs almost smiled at the childish writing that spelled out two names, _Lacey_ and _Megin_.

"We're assuming that she doesn't know how to spell Megan," the woman said, snatching the paper back. "I'm Celine Carlton by the way."

"What's going to happen to these two?" Gibbs asked.

"A foster home for Lacey and we'll see about Megan…if she doesn't die that is."

Gibbs was really starting to not like this woman. She talked about things that the kid really didn't need to know right in front of her like she was deaf or something…and she was obviously upsetting her.

"Can we continue this in the hallway?" Gibbs asked in his most controlled voice.

"We'll be right back honey," Ms. Carlton smiled at Lacey. Lacey's face had relaxed back into her emotionless mask and didn't change.

Once in the hallway, Gibbs took a deep breath, not really believing what he was about to say, "I'd like to volunteer to be Lacey's guardian for the time being."

Ms. Carlton looked more than slightly surprised, "What- why, if I may ask, would you want to do that."

In her job, Celine Carlton had met a lot of people who like kids, a lot who didn't, plenty that shouldn't be allowed to reproduce, and some that screamed I-am-NOT-a-kid-person…but Gibbs didn't seem like the type that would want a silent kid hanging around.

"We don't know for sure why she was at the house…but whatever it was, it sure as hell wasn't legal. Someone might want to destroy all the evidence, or witnesses," Gibbs said in a low voice, watching the woman's reaction.

Against her better judgment Celine spoke slowly, "Well, since its temporary protection…I could probably arrange something. I'd have to cut through a dozen layers of red tape-"

"That could be a problem," Gibbs began, "I need you to temporarily 'lose' Lacey in the system."

"What! I can't do that, it could cost me not only my job but I could go to _prison_!" the last word came out as more of a hysterical hiss than an actual word.

He was really flying solo now, "It will only be for a short time and I won't let the girl out of my sight for a minute. It's the safest thing for her right now."

"I don't know-"

Gibbs moved close to her face and spoke in his most threatening voice, "How you like some innocent little girl's blood on your hands? Don't you think she's been through enough in her life?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean-"

"We'll have this whole case completely wrapped up in a few days then when it's safe, child services can take custody of her again."

Ms. Carlton pinched the bridge of her nose and looked like she was regretting agreeing to take this job, "If I get into trouble, I _will _be blaming you."

"I wouldn't have it another way."

_**NCIS-NCIS-NCIS-NCIS**_

Twenty minutes later found Gibbs and Lacey walking hand-and-hand out of the hospital and into the slowly rising sun and Megan's new security guard sitting near her door. New clothes from Ms. Celine, a stuffed cat that had appeared out of nowhere, and being significantly cleaner as well as fuller turned Lacey into a new girl. There was a little pep in her step and she even smiled at Gibbs once.

But the fear wasn't entirely gone…this little girl had been through too much and seen more. She should have been afraid, but Gibbs had come to the decision that he would not only catch the monster behind this, but he was going to make sure that this kid's life would never be black again.

* * *

><p>"So, have you and David been partners long?" Agent Rodríguez voice broke into Tony's thoughts.<p>

"_Dav-eed_," Tony corrected absently.

Rolling her eyes Rodríguez asked her question again, "Have you been partners long?"

"A couple years."

"But you like her."

"I try to get along with my partners, makes the work environment a much happier place. Don't you like your partner?"

"Of course I like my partner, but from the way you act, you like her _more _than a partner."

Before Tony could adamantly deny this _fact_, there was a popping sound behind them and the eight or so people in the home base spun around, searching the skies for the flare that they knew would follow the sound.

"There it is!" someone shouted, but Tony didn't really register the flurry of activity going on around him.

The flare was red.

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: A flare lighting up the sky in front of the rising sun.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>That was one mean ending, wasn't it? Well I have off Moonday and maybe I will start another chapter…or I might sleep since I'm going to up all night on New Year's…PARTY HARDY!<strong>

**Hope everyone has a FANTABULOUS New Year!**

**~Love, **

**Agent Striker **


	9. Chapter 8

**I must still be in the Christmas spirit…'cause here's another update! **

**Thanks to:**

1Styx and Stones1

Tiva lovah

**Are you guys excited for this tasty, but short, bonus?**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Gibbs holding Lacey as the elevator doors began to shut.<em>

* * *

><p>The duo of Gibbs and Lacey reached the NCIS building with more caffeinated beverages, well hot chocolate for the girl but coffee for Gibbs. The office was still dim in the morning light, but one figure could be made out spinning in McGee's chair. "Good morning Abby."<p>

Springing out of the chair, something in Abby's arms fell forgotten to the floor. "Gibbs! I thought you had been Gibbs-napped or- Oh, who's this?"

Gibbs smiled reassuringly at Lacey, "This is Lacey. She's going to be staying here for a while."

"Hello Lacey, my name is Abby," the tall Goth smiled at the little girl who looked like she was about to bolt behind Gibbs' tall form. Her face mimicked what Gibbs' face usually looked like, completely devoid of emotion…except she hadn't figured out how to mask her eyes yet. They still showed her fear.

"Do you have any more information on the weapon?" Gibbs asked as he dropped a bag behind his desk.

"I actually do…would you and Lacey like to come down to the lab with moi?"

Gibbs nodded and Lacey readjusted her grip on Gibbs hand. Abby took that for yes. The trio had just began the trek when Abby remembered what she had dropped, "Burt!" she gasped, then spun around to retrieve the poor little hippo from the floor by McGee's desk.

"It's okay Burt, I still love you. I just got excited that Gibbs hadn't been Gibbs-napped and that he brought cute-as-a-button Lacey with him. Oh, you'd like to meet Lacey? I'll see what I can do about that."

From her actions and her face, Gibbs was betting that Lacey didn't like being in the elevator…let alone with someone most people might consider slightly creepy who was having a conversation with a farting hippo.

"Lacey, my friend Burt is a little miffed that I didn't formally introduce you back in the office. So Burt, this is Lacey, Lacey this is my farting hippo Burt," Abby gave Burt a good squeeze and he farted loud enough to make any hippo proud.

Burt's antics made Lacey's emotionless face light up with a smile for just a second. Holding out her own gangly, tabby colored cat that she had received from the hospital staff, she looked at Abby expectantly.

"Well isn't this a cute cat. What's her name, Stripes?" Abby asked as the elevator dinged at the Lab Floor. Lacey shook her head as the trio stepped off the elevator and headed for the lab.

Flipping on the lights, Gibbs led Lacey back through Abby's lab. Scooping her up, he plopped her on Abby's chair then pulled open one of the drawers to reveal a stack of white paper and some brightly colored Sharpies.

"Can you draw me a picture of you and your cat while I talk with Abby for a few minutes?" Gibbs asked.

Nodding, she pulled a single sheet from the drawer as well as a pink marker, completely focused on her work.

"So, what do you got for me Abs?"

"I have many questions and maybe an answer for you. First, where did-"

"My answer, then your questions Abby," Gibbs interjected.

Abby heaved a huge sigh, "Okayy. Well, surprisingly enough, the knife was easy to id. There are a very few with the exact demotions that our murder weapon does. It's one of these bad boys."

Up on the screen was a long, sleek fixed-bladed knife with a long handle, "It's a United Kingdom Special Forces Knife. You can buy them at a bunch of different places online for about two hundred dollars a shot so we _might_ not be looking for a smoking British Secret Agent. But I'm kind of hoping that we are. I _love_ accents."

Gibbs nodded thoughtfully, ignoring the part about the smoking British Secret Agent, "Finger prints?"

Abby shook her head and her pig tails bounced, "I got a partial left thumb print, but I haven't gotten any matches yet. We're still going through all the Corporal's effects. I'll call you if I get anything else."

Gibbs nodded and when to retrieve his little shadow, along with her picture (incidentally, the cat's name was Spot), then headed back to his office in thoughtful silence.

Lacey planted herself firmly in the most secluded corner of Gibbs' desk and watched the 'team' that had assembled in the bullpen. With most of his real team MIA and the other one out looking, people had been surreptitiously 'helping out' all day. Coffee had not been in short supply and a couple girls from one of the other teams, Terri Calhoun and Ava Esposito had been working out the recent activities of the Corporal.

"Thanks for your help, Ava, right?" Hunter smiled sweetly at a petite brunette who had just handed him a stack of papers.

She giggled in reply, "I'm Terri, she's Ava," pointing to the tall, olive-skinned, black haired girl across the room.

Gibbs stood up to see what he could do when the phone in the office rang, louder than usual it seemed because everyone seemed to freeze as, their eyes darting between Gibbs and the phone. Time seemed to be holding its breath.

"Gibbs," he stood and listened for a moment, the office around him watching as he listened, his face emotionless. He nodded once, "I'll be right there."

Slamming the phone down seemed to snap the office out of its trance. "Did they find them?" Hunter asked standing up.

"Come on Lacey, you're going to go to Abby's lab for awhile," Gibbs said, picking up the little girl from her spot on the floor.

"Gibbs, what's going on?" Hunter called.

Gibbs punched the elevator button, "They found Ziva," he swallowed hard, "she's in rough shape. I'm heading to the hospital now."

"Is there anything I can do?" Hunter called.

"Keep working, we're going to catch the son of a- that scum that did this to my team."

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Gibbs holding Lacey as the elevator doors began to shut.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>A filler chapter for sure…I think we'll back track to see <strong>_**how **_**and **_**where **_**she was found. HAPPY 2012!**

**~Striker **


	10. Chapter 9

**Oh. My. God. Did you guys see the Tiva at the end of '****Housekeeping'****? I was being naughty and watching it during Bio and my teacher now thinks I'm clinically insane for randomly squealing during an ecology lecture. IT WAS SO CLOSE! I was like NO RAY, DIEEEE! And did you all see the promo for the next epi? If she says yes, I WILL **_**kill**_** someone!**

**AHH! Sorry, way to hyper and stressed out, I need to chill except the whole freakin' word is up my rear end about something or other…AHH. **

**Okay, I have calmed myself now. Thanks to: **

aoki-reiko

1Styx and Stones1

clover janks

person

* * *

><p><em>Previously on NCIS: <em>

"_Gibbs," he stood and listened for a moment, the office around him watching as he listened, his face emotionless. He nodded once, "I'll be right there."_

_Slamming the phone down seemed to snap the office out of its trance. "Did they find them?" Hunter asked standing up. _

"_Come on Lacey, you're going to go to Abby's lab for awhile," Gibbs said, picking up the little girl from her spot on the floor. _

"_Gibbs, what's going on?" Hunter called. _

_Gibbs punched the elevator button, "They found Ziva," he swallowed hard, "she's in rough shape. I'm heading to the hospital now."_

"_Is there anything I can do?" Hunter called._

"_Keep working, we're going to catch the son of a- that scum that did this to my team."_

* * *

><p><span>Seven Hours Earlier:<span>

Ziva had been walking for hours and yet it seemed like she hadn't moved at all. Her hands were stiff with the cold and caked with mud from running her hands along the wall so she would lose her way in the endless dark.

The dark, cold wet place and the injuries were now was slowly tearing away at Ziva's sanity, each _drip, drip, drip_ of the far off water making her 'look' around her, but for what she didn't know. Suddenly, it seemed like voices began floating up from behind her. It sounded like they were speaking Arabic and she flashed back to her Mossad days.

Fear sped up her heart as well as her feet and she broke into a run. Ziva glanced back with the irrational part of her mind screaming that 'they' were getting closer. She caught her foot on something, sending her flying, hands outstretched to break her fall.

With a grunt and a curse, her landing wasn't the only thing that was broken. Her vision, or what there was of it, swam in pain and she cursed in multiple languages simultaneously. Pulling her self up, she bit down hard on her lip to keep from crying out.

Racing down the hallway once again (or what seemed like racing to her), she could have sworn that the floor was shaking. The voices were getting louder and a bright spot of light startled her into falling to her knees once again.

Looking back, she was blinded for a moment as light and noise assaulted her senses. The whole room began shaking and quaking around her, the voices escalated into shouting, shouting her name.

Then the whole room seemed to collapse around her, bringing darkness once again.

* * *

><p><span>Forty-five Minutes After the Collapse<span>

Tony, Agent Rodríguez, and three deputies arrived at the entrance of the East tunnel gasping for breath and hearts pounding. A young, skinny agent stood shifting his weight and the flare gun in his hand nervously back and forth at the entrance of the tunnel.

"What happened?" Tony shouted, racing to the agent.

"We think we found Agent David, but the tunnel collapsed-"

The agent was cut off by Tony, "But she was alive, Ziva was alive."

He nodded, "She was-"

Without waiting to hear anything else, Tony yanked his flashlight from his belt and darted into his tunnel.

Tatyanna Rodríguez quashed the urge to roll her eyes. Turning around, she pointed to one of the deputies, "You, go back to Base Camp and radio for some sort of digging equipment and backup diggers…oh, and medics."

The deputy nodded and turned to sprint back up the hill. The second one raised his hand, yes, actually raised his hand, "How 'bout me ma'am?"

"You come with me and see what we can do to help inside."

Two Hours After the Collapse 

Tony's elation that Ziva was alive was terribly short-lived. About a mile in, a huge mound of dirt and rock blocked the whole tunnel all the way to the nine or ten foot ceiling. Six people were balancing at the top of the mound, shoving dirt and rock out of the way with their bare hands and Tony wasted no time in scuttling up the hill to help. Agent Rodríguez and Deputy two weren't far behind.

"How long ago did this happen?" Rodríguez shouted over the grunting as three of the searches rolled a rather large boulder down out of the way.

"About a hour ago," A tall, brown haired woman called, "We had been tracking a set of footprints when we saw Agent David. When she saw us, she started to run and the next thing we knew the whole roof was caving in."

Before anything else could be said, a voice called from higher up, "Hey, I think we're through!"

Tony's voice echoed down to Agent Rodríguez, "I'll go see if she's okay!"

"Be careful, we don't know how steady the ceiling is!" The tall brunette called.

Shoving his shoulders through the hole, Tony searched frantically for his partner. His flashlight caught her lying far to still for the Ziva David he knew. "Ziva?" he called.

He stumbled down to her, horrified at how beat up she looked, almost like a sad little ragdoll. Her face was bruised and bloodied and her hair was matted with more blood and mud. Her wrist was twisted at a sickening angle as well, but it was the huge gash across her abdomen that worried him the most.

"Is she okay?" Tatyanna's voice called down as the hole grew bigger.

"She's alive, but in pretty rough shape. We need to get the medics here ASAP!" he called back.

More of the ceiling crumbled down and one of the searchers muttered that it didn't look like it would hold much longer. "We've got to get you two out of there, I don't think the roof is going to hold! I'm coming down!"

Walking, or sliding as it turned out, Agent Rodríguez was getting more nervous with each second as more and more of the tunnel started to crumble around them. "We've got to hurry DiNozzo."

"I know," Tony muttered uneasily, "You get her feet."

With a nod, the two agents started working their way back up the slope as the ceiling really began to rain down.

"Hurry!" A voice called from above and three more sets of hands appeared, tugging the agents up as the roar behind them became deafening.

Just when it seemed like they weren't going to make it, they tumbled through the other side, one silent, one cursing, and one switching back and forth between cursing and praying.

The funny thing about al of this was that looking back, none of the agents would remember exactly what happened between the medics arriving at the scene and Gibbs arriving at the hospital. It was a noisy, colorful blur of faces and sounds. At some point, Tony, Ziva, and Tatyanna Rodríguez were shoved into one pitiful ambulance, taken to a hospital about forty-five minutes from collapsed tunnel then took an hour long helicopter ride to the Navy hospital in Washington D.C.

Tony had only suffered a couple scratches and a bump on the head but overall his pants were in worse shape then he really was. The medical staff had tried to treat him, but he refused to let Ziva out of his sight and ignored the doctors. Agent Rodríguez had a gash down her left arm that had been gushing blood since before she had left the tunnel. She had also tried to object to leaving Tony or Agent David, saying it was just a little cut but before anyone was actually listening to her, the world around her was sucked into a dark whirlpool and she passed out, crumpling to the floor gracelessly. Tony called to the doctors to do whatever they needed to as he followed Ziva (Incidentally, Agent Rodríguez's 'little cut' needed thirty-nine stiches).

* * *

><p><span>Current Time:<span>

Although he would never admit to anyone, Gibbs was actually terrified when he got the call from Tony. His agent didn't sound totally lucid and there was a bone-tired feeling that could even be felt over the phone. He barked at the nurse at the front desk for no particular reason then stalked back to where Tony was, praying for the first time in a long time that the feeling in his gut was wrong.

Tony sat on a hard plastic chair outside of one of the operating rooms, leaning forward with his hands folded in front of him focusing on one of the spotty white tiles. His head throbbing like it was having it's own personal heavy metal concert with a highly rowdy crowd.

"DiNozzo."

It wasn't a command or a question. Tony looked up and made an attempt at eye contact, "Boss."

"How is she?"

"Not to good. She's in surgery now."

"What happened?"

Tony paused, racking his brain for the words one of the doctors had thrown at him, "She was shot and there was some sort of complication...she all beat up and they think the gunshot is infected. And her wrist's ser-serveally-severely broken," he said, thinking that putting words into sentences was way to hard all of the sudden.

Tony had told Gibbs about the tunnel collapse over the phone and the elder man sighed as he sat down next to his senior field agent, "Where's Rodríguez?"

"Who?" Tony pondered for a second before amending himself, "Oh, her. I'm not sure. The last time I saw her she was passed out on the emergency room floor."

Gibbs bit back his remark and resisted the urge to head-slap his agent. Taking a deep breath Gibbs spoke slowly, "Alright. I'm going to go and check on her. I'll be back but you call me if anything happens."

"On it boss," Tony said with a mock salute.

Gibbs shook his head and stood up, feeling so much older then he had in a long time. He might loose Ziva and Tim might already be lost.

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Gibbs' face as the door of the operating room begins to open.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Wow. That was so long. How did you like it? Yay, nay? Review and tell me what you think!<strong>

**~Striker **


	11. Chapter 10

**Sorry for the slight delay, I'm a lazy writer and my beta can't beta the chapter when it's still in my head. Anyway, thanks to my ****FABULOUS**** beta AsItThunders and my reviewers:**

aoki-reiko

1Styx and Stones1

Zivalover

**Since I am newly beta-ed, feel free to go back and read the previous chapters that now have a bunch fewer errors!**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Abby with tears streaming down her face and her cellphone pressed to her ear.<em>

* * *

><p>Agent Hunter Allen was used to spending hours doing monotonous research in quiet offices, but his new office at NCIS was anything but quiet. People from all over the building kept stopping by to ask how the search was going or dropping off information they had found while 'doing research for their cases' that might pertain to his team's case.<p>

And _everyone _had some insane story to tell about Team Gibbs. All the cases they had solved, all the people they had helped or put behind bars and all the things that his team had gone through. And it just kept coming. Going on and on and on...

Not that he was complaining or anything; he was just making an observation. Team Gibbs was good and they were well liked. The whole plus side of this was the extra help he was getting…and the chicks,; Wow! Who knew the NCIS office had so many lovely women. Most, of whom, had either a: slept with DiNozzo; b: wanted to sleep with DiNozzo; or c: had creepily stalked DiNozzo from afar.

Sighing, he yanked a clean sheet of paper from the bottom drawer of his borrowed desk. His partner was forever making fun of him, but sometimes he had to make lists. By hand. It helped clear his usually clogged mind.

This list looked something like this:

Things To Find Out- 

1. Who the two girls are  
>2. Why they were at the Carney House<br>3. Who killed the corporal  
>4. WHY the corporal was killed<br>5. Try and locate the suspect that Agent David had been chasing before she was injured  
>6. More about the Carney House and its owner(s)<br>7. More about the corporal's background  
>8.<p>

Drumming his fingers on the desk, he resisted the urge to check his phone for a text from his partner. From what he got out of Gibbs, she was probably still getting her stitches…and most likely, she wasn't going to be in the best of moods afterwards.

Giving himself a mental shake, he returned to his work, thinking that he wasn't going to be able to focus. Twenty minutes later his attention was riveted to the screen in front of him as he scanned the Corporal's bank records for anything out of the ordinary. His search paid off. For the last three years, the corporal had been receiving payments ranging from fifteen thousand dollars to nearly fifty thousand dollars. That was a lot more than her regular paycheck.

The elevator dinged and one of the pretty ladies that had been fawning over him since he arrived in D.C. dramatically entered the bullpen. Ava Esposito, the beautiful Italian, "Well, _that _was a hassle!"

Hunter smiled patiently, "Did you find anything new, Ava?"

She nodded, "Most of the stuff had already been pilfered and sent down to Abby, but when I dropped my lipstick in front of her fireplace, I found this."

She pulled a blue evidence bag from her purse, waving it under Hunter's nose. It was a mostly burned picture but he could still make out a dark haired man with his arms wrapped around someone (whose face was gone but you could just make out the uniform and the corporal stripes). Hunter's grin grew, "Nice find…You say it was in the fireplace?"

"Yeah, it was shoved way in the back. It looks like the corporal wasn't too happy with this guy. It reminds me of the fifth time I broke up with my boyfriend…" Ava murmured, prattleing on while Hunter's face grew thoughtful.

"This guy could fit the description of the man that Agent David saw running away from the house the day the Corporal's body was found," Hunter interrupted, " Take this down to Abby and see if she can do any sort of face recognition thing."

Ava rolled her perfectly made up eyes but nodded at Hunter, wondering idly if all partners were in love. Hunter and Tatyanna, Tony and Ziva. _Maybe I should find a straight, male partner, _she thought with a sigh, _that might help my love life._

* * *

><p>After spending four straight hours meticulously checking and rechecking the map of the area surrounding the Carney House where McGee and Ziva had disappeared from, Abby was about three seconds from imploding all over the next person who dared to interrupt her. Like that ridiculously annoying Probie who had been sniffing around all morning, claiming that he 'just wanted to help find the missing agents'.<p>

Abby muttered somewhat ominously to herself as her eyes continued to search the few digital maps in the Carolina County archives. "Whoever scanned these maps in here has some serious eye problems." She was beginning to think that a trip to the county archives was going to be unnecessary when a fuzzy circle at the corner of the screen caught her attention.

Moving closer to the screen, she hammered something out on the keyboard and the corner grew to fill the entire screen and the fuzzy words could just be made out.

_Old Tar Road Cistern_

She let out a five star screech, then flung her self around her lab in search of the phone, forgetting about the sleeping six year old on her old futon with Burt in the back. After she finally found the phone (under the nine CafPow cups in one of the corners) she was on a completely new level of Abby-Energy, "GIBBS! I THINK I MIGHT KNOW WHERE TIMMY IS! IF THE MAP IS RIGHT AND-"

She paused her screeching to listen to Gibbs for a second.

"OKAY! HURRY GIBBS, HURRY! TIMMY NEEDS US!"

All the screaming might have brought people running from every direction if it was anybody but Abby, but one of younger 'paper pushers' stuck her head inside the door, "Umm, is everything alright in here?"

Abby spun around, "WHO ARE YOU AND WHY ARE YOU IN MY LAB?"

"Oh, oh, I'msorrytobotheryou-" The young woman was probably six feet tall in her stocking feet, but the Goth had startled her into a cowering position which made her seem a lot shorter.

Abby was on a roll, "ANSWER ME!"

"I'mJamieEmersonI'," she stuttered in a single breath.

Stalking over to Jamie, Abby looked down her nose (or at least gave that impression) at the skinny, frizzy-haired blond with some interest, "Well Jamie Emerson. Since you were considerate enough to come and check on me, I will give you the details of my life until Gibbs arrives. Capicé?"

She nodded and shuffled a few more steps into the lab, "Yes ma'am."

Abby cocked one of her black eyebrows, "Abby rule seven, never call me ma'am."

"Yes m- I mean yes sir- I mean-"

Abby cut off her new protégé with a wave of her hand, "I know what you mean. Anyway, back to the screaming. I have a new breakthrough on the case of my missing Timmy."

Jamie nodded enthusiastically, "Oh, is he one of the two agents who went missing yesterday?"

Abby nodded distractedly as she turned back to her computer, waving Jamie to follow her, "Was it only yesterday? It seems like a lot longer. But take a look at this Jamie."

Pointing at the screen with one hand and typing with the other, Abby explained her theory breathlessly, "Okay, so I think that, for some reason still unknown, he strayed off his path and ended up either following someone following or falling into one of the cisterns around the house."

"What's a cistern?" Jamie asked bravely.

"Water storage thingy, like a rain barrel."

"Oh, okay."

Abby hit another key on her keyboard and a different map popped up. It had several large red rectangles and squares all connected by thin red lines. Jamie opened her mouth, most likely to ask a question, but Abby cut her off, "This is a map of the cisterns around the house. I can't figure out why there are so many…or why they aren't all connected directly to the house, but we can get back to that. Where is Gibbs?" she wondered aloud.

"Right here Abs, what do you have?"

"GIBBS!" Abby let out a little squeal, "I KNOW WHERE MCGEE IS!"

Gibbs nodded patiently, "I gathered that from your phone call. Can you tell me _where _he is?"

Abby nodded and restlessly re-explained her theory to Gibbs, bouncing up and down, her pigtails swinging excitedly. Jamie Emerson had evaporated at the sight of the blue eyed, steel gray haired agent who everyone in the building either reveared or feared. Jamie just wasn't a brave person.

Gibbs however, didn't really seem to notice the girl. "I'll call the sheriff then I'll head out there myself. I'll call you as soon as I get anything." Glancing around as he dug his phone out of his pocket he asked, "Where's Lacey?"

"Asleep in the back, she's fine. Go find Timmy," Abby said, stamping her platform boots. Gibbs planted a reassuring kiss on her cheek then was out of the lab door, shouting orders into his phone.

"Oh! Gibbs, wait! How's Ziva?" Abby Gibbs-slapped herself for being so callous. She waited for an answer, but the ding of the elevator was the only sound.

She stood looking at the door for a long moment before the elevator _dinged _again. The whole room had taken on a misty glow, and Abby spun around and wiped furiously at her eyes.

The confident voice of Ava Esposito (who wasn't really one of the Goth's favorite NCIS agents) rang through the lab, "Hey Abby!"

"What do you want?" Abby snapped, annoyed by the tearful edge in her voice.

Ava cautiously entered the lab, "I have a picture that Hunter wants you to run through the system to see if we can get a match. It matches the description Ziva gave of the man that she followed out of the house."

This seemed to perk Abby up a bit and to tell the truth, the thought of any work to get her mind off of things was good. She snatched evidence bag without making eye contact, effectively dismissing Agent Esposito.

Ava stopped in the doorway and looked back at the shoulders of the Goth, "They'll find him."

"I know they'll find him. Gibbs won't rest until he does. But there's no guarantee that they'll find him alive."

What does a person say to that? Nothing, because sometimes actions speak louder than words. Hugs are support when times are bad and they form brand new friendships.

* * *

><p>It took two hours, but just before sunset and twenty-three hours after McGee went missing, Gibbs had the search teams clearing brush around the cistern closest to the path that they assumed he had taken. "Hey, I think I found something!" The shout rang out, drawing everyone towards one of the deputies.<p>

"What is it?" Gibbs demanded.

Pushing back the brush, the angular man kicked back some leaves to reveal what looked like a sinkhole. "This must be the opening, I almost fell in."

Dropping to his knees, Gibbs yanked a high power flashlight from his belt and got as close to the edge of the hole as he dared. The area looked like it was only ten feet deep or so and maybe eight or nine feet across. It wasn't just dug out, it had stone walls and ceiling; plus it looked pretty dry.

Gibbs couldn't see the whole cistern. Cursing, he gently moved closer and closer to the crumbing edge, "McGee! You down there?"

The whole group seemed to be holding their breath. Just when it seemed like there was no one down there, anyone who was alive at any rate, a groan rose from the debts of the pit. "Boss?"

Gibbs couldn't help it, he broke into a face-splitting grin, "It's me! Are you okay?"

"Alive. Okay is another matter. I think I'm gonna need help to get out of here-" he broke into a cough.

"Just stay where you are. We're coming!"

"On it boss."

* * *

><p>"Tony?"<p>

Tony glanced up from the release form he was filling out, "Abby, what are you doing here?"

"My machines were running without me and I wanted to come see you and Ziva."

Glancing around her, Tony looked slightly confused, "Where's Gibbs' little friend?"

"Asleep in the lab. Jamie's watching her. When did you meet Lacey?"

"Is that her name?" he asked. Abby nodded and he continued, "I was there when he found her."

Abby slapped her forehead, "Of course you were. I swear- I'm losing my mind…how's Ziva?"

Tony's skin turned a shade greener, "Okay I guess, she got out of surgery about half an hour before you called Gibbs. She's in intensive care now."

It was tempting to ask what had happened to Ziva, but there would be time for that, "Can I see her?"

Tony shrugged and stood, "We can ask."

After conversing in hushed tones for a short amount of time and a promise to be quick, Tony and Abby were granted permission to enter Ziva's room.

Seeing her almost made Abby burst into tears for the millionth time that day. Her beautiful hair was pulled back with a white wrap that encircled her whole head and she had two deep purple black eyes. She was lying so still on the bed Abby was terrified for a second that she wasn't breathing at all. All the monitors and the other medical equipment beeped and blinked in almost comforting regularity and Ziva slept on in blissful drugged sleep.

Stepping forward, Abby swallowed the lump in her throat and squeezed the sleeping agent's hand. "Get better Ziva, we can't loose you both."

As if Gibbs had read Abby's mind, her phone vibrated, "Gibbs?"

A soft, scratchy voice spoke instead, "It's me Abby. I wanted to tell you I'm okay."

She swore her heart stopped for a second, "Timmy?" she asked meekly.

There was a brittle laugh, "Yeah Abs, it's me."

The tears that were streaming from her eyes now were happy ones. "I thought I'd lost you."

"You'll never loose me Abs. I've always been here, always will be here for you."

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Abby with tears streaming down her face and her cell phone pressed to her ear.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Like it? Review please!<strong>

**~Striker**


	12. Chapter 11

**I'm backkkkkkkk! Love to my readers! I know there are more of you readers out there, don't forget to review; it gives me more of an incentive to write! ****And remember, go back and read the chapter that was the author's note, it's really important!**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Tony and Hunter on the porch of a suburban home in front of a partially open door.<em>

* * *

><p>Jamie Emerson had grown up your typical American kid, oldest of two (pesky younger brother) and the apple of her parents' eyes. She had never really given any thought to the life outside of her happy family until she was a eighteen-year-old college freshmen with a roommate who was exceeding free with her 'extracurricular' activities (which didn't take place on <em>her <em>bed with startling frequency) so Jamie slept at the library. She realized a few things that year, the first major fact being that she had lead a seriously sheltered life.

Of all four years in college, her freshmen year was what most people would have thought to be the most fun. She experimented with drugs (and regretted it), skipped class (and regretted it), experimented with boys (sort of regretted it), when thirty hours without sleeping (regretted it at the time, looking back it was a great story, and probably most importantly, she figured out what she wanted to be when she grew up.

While her current job at NCIS was anything but her ideal situation, she felt like she was making a difference. Filing evidence, organizing top secret documents, and slowly working her way up the office chain made for a stable life.

Stable equals boring usually, but her day had been anything but normal. First, she had been late, not that her supervisor noticed, then she had taken a two-hour lunch (which most of her colleagues did daily), which no one noticed, and then just walked out of the office four hours earlier without going back.

Balancing her NCIS issued laptop on her long, pale legs, and contemplated actually getting some work done. Gazing at the faces flying on the screen waiting to match the face of either of the girls, she wondered why the girls had been left in the house when it seemed like it had been recently cleared out.

Lost in her own world, Jamie just about wet her pants when a woman cleared her voice behind her, "What are you doing in here, Miss Emerson?"

Jumping to her feet, her laptop clattering to the floor, Jamie spun around and nearly saluted the Director, "I'mbabysittingDirectorShepardma'am. ForAbbyma'am. I'm sorry I-"

"Babysitting?" the director asked casually, glancing around at Abby's lab.

"Yesma'am."

"Dare I ask _who _you are babysitting?"

Swallowing hard, Jamie looked down at her scuffed shoes, "Lacey."

"Who's Lacey?"

"One of the little girls they found in that house," Jamie said to her shoes.

"Why in heaven's name is she _here_?"

"I-I think Abby was babbysittingforAgentGibbs."

"Why did Gibbs have her?" Jenny asked.

Jamie shrugged and the director shook her head and started towards the back of Abby's lab. Ignoring Jamie's whispered protests, she stooped over and retrieved the sleeping child from Abby's futon, blankets and all, "You can tell Miss Sciuto to tell Agent Gibbs he can retrieve his 'package' in my office."

* * *

><p>After Agent Tatyanna Rodríguez returned to NCIS with her complaining and her flare for the dramatic, she, Hunter Allen, and Tony settled into a comfortable working silence. Well, it was silent until Tony's restless mind transferred his nervous energy into the pen he held in his left hand. <em>Tap, tap, tap. <em>

Tatyanna looked up from her computer and glared at Tony. Tony however, did not seem to notice. _Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap. _If anything, his rate of tapping increased. "Can you stop?"

Tony didn't look up, "Hmmm?" _Tap, tap, tap, tap._

Apparently, the thirty-nine stitches had sorely worn away at her already abnormally thin patience. She stood up and in a frightenly savage calm, pushed her chair out of the way and stalked over to Tony and ripped the pen out his hand, "If you do not stop with the damn tapping, I will shove this pen so far up your ass it'll come out your nose," she leaned towards Tony menacingly. "Are we clear?"

Tony looked more than slightly taken aback, "Sorry."

With a nod, she sulked back to her desk and Tony caught the eye of her regular partner, "Is she always like this?"

"It's usually worse when she hasn't eaten," He nodded. To his partner he added, "When _was _the last time you ate?"

She shrugged as she made her way back to her desk. Rolling his eyes, Hunter stood up, "Come on, let's go get you something to eat before you pass out."

"When did you become my mother?" she snapped.

"The day I became your partner. Come on, you need a break anyway. Do you want to come, Tony?"

Tony shook head, "No thanks, I'm good."

Hunter pulled his jacket from the floor, "Okay, we won't be long."

"I don't wanna go," Tatyanna whined, "I don't even have a shirt that I can wear in public with out getting arrested."

"It's just missing the sleeve."

The short dark haired woman glared at her partner. Standing up she held her left arm (the one with the stitches) to reveal the seam was cut all the way down and her neon green bra, "Apparently, they felt the need to slice my _entire _shirt open to put stitches in my _arm_. Do you know how much this shirt cost me?"

"Ninety-nine dollars on sale, I know. Here," Hunter undid the top three buttons on his own white dress shirt and pulled it off, "just wear this."

Agent Rodríguez was gazing in surprise at her partner's sexy six-pack visible under the thin cotton undershirt he was wearing but she managed to control her drooling, "Oh. Thanks."

Hunter nodded, "It's what partner's do. Come on, let's go, I'm for one, starving."

Watching the two agents, Tatyanna complaining peevishly about her lack of a proper shirt and then Hunter giving up his, Tony smiled. He would have his own partner back soon.

* * *

><p>The rather dramatic episode that had unfolded in Abby's lab had had some pretty dramatic repercussions. Abby was planning to install a 'Director Detector' and never leave her lab in the hands of office Probies, Jamie Emerson was slightly terrified for her life and was seriously considering taking a job at the FBI and Gibbs found himself strolling towards the director's office without his usually swagger.<p>

However, Gibbs marched through the director's door without bothering to knock, par usual, but he didn't throw the door back like he normally would have after being summoned to the director's office like a naughty child being called to the principal's office.

"Come right in Jethro," Jenny said sarcastically.

Glancing around the room, Gibbs located Lacey bundled up in blankets on Jenny couch, still fast asleep. Jenny caught sight of where he was looking and smiled dolefully, "So, are you going to inform me of the reason that she is here and not in Child Services?"

Gibbs shrugged, "I might have told a small lie to the Child Service lady."

Jen looked unimpressed, "What in the world would make you do that?"

"I didn't like the Child Services lady."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Jenny groaned, "The sad thing is I believe you. Any other reasons besides that?"

"Her parents are out there somewhere, and they're looking for her. Wouldn't you like to find them so they can watch her grow up, not just look at the age enhanced pictures of her on the missing posters because she's been missing since she was four or five?"

She hated it when he said things like that. It made it harder to believe that he didn't actually have a heart, "That could have been done while she was in a foster home."

"True, but I didn't like the Child Services lady," Gibbs replied, cracking into one of his infrequent but heart-melting grins.

Just then, there was a noise from beneath the blankets and a sleep-tousled head appeared. Gibbs continued to smile, "Good morning, Lacey."

She waved back shyly, obviously unsure how she had come to be on the cool leather couch. Gibbs got up, "Lacey, this is my friend Jen. Jen, this is Lacey."

Jenny smiled, "Hello Lacey, did you sleep well?"

Lacey's response was to burrow back under the covers. Gibbs laughed softly, "Are you hungry Lacey?"

The blankets nodded. As the Director and Gibbs laughed, Jenny's desk phone rang, "Shepard," she barked.

Pausing for a moment, she listened to the person on the other end of the line, "Alright I'll tell him."

"What is it?" Gibbs asked as Jen placed the phone back in the holder.

"Do you want the good news or the bad news?

Gibbs turned around at the sound Jen's voice, "Both."

"The good new is Abby got a match on the older girl. Her name is Megan McLaughlin; she lives in Fairfax with her sister and parents, sophomore at the local high school, and been missing for six months. The bad news is that Megan's taken a turn for the worse. They don't know if she'll make it through the night."

"Then we'd better get someone out there," Gibbs said, reaching for his phone.

* * *

><p>About half an hour later, Tony and Hunter Allen pulled up in front of a cookie-cutter house in a fairly new looking development. There weren't any cars in sight, but the two agents sauntered up to the door anyway.<p>

"Can I knock?" Hunter asked.

Tony shook his head, thinking he had misheard, "What?"

"Can I knock? Tatyanna never lets me."

"_Knock _yourself out," Tony laughed, showing that he was getting back to his old self.

Hunter laughed as he knocked on the pine door. There was the sound of a dog barking but no one appeared at the door. Hunter shrugged and was turning to leave when Tony caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye, "Somebody's home, I saw the curtain move."

"NCIS, federal agents," Hunter called.

Almost immediately the door opened a crack and blue eye looked out, "Yes?"

"We're looking for Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin?"

"Um, well I'm Julia McLaughlin…but my parents can't really come out now."

The two agents exchanged a glance, "Are they home?"

A long pause, "No."

"Julia, we're here about your sister, Megan."

The door flew open, "You found her? Is she okay? Is she with you? Can I see her? My parents just flew to New York to see a girl they think might be her, they'll be back tonight."

The tall, blue eyed, red head looked like a much healthier version of the girl in the hospital, a twin most likely. Tony swallowed, "Your sister is at the Naval hospital in D.C. She's in pretty rough condition and we need you to come with us and identify her."

"Is she still alive?" Julia asked faintly.

Hunter nodded, "She is. Grab anything you're gonna need and call your parents and let them know what's going on."

"Oh, okay," She closed the door partially and the agents could hear her running down the hall.

"I hope her sister makes it," Hunter said quietly.

"I hope the people that hurt her don't make it," Tony growled, "they're all going to burn in hell and I would love to help them get there faster."

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Tony and Hunter on the porch of a suburban home in front of a partially open door.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>So, do you guys like my OCs Tatyanna and Hunter? I'm growing rather fond of them. Tatyanna is actually based on two of my friends (one looks like her and has the same name and the other one acts like her) and the whole pen thing actually happened. Welcome to Striker's everyday life.<strong>

** Love, Striker **


	13. Chapter 12

**I AM SO SORRY GUYS! I have been sooo sick, I just can't seem to shake this cold thing. I'm a horrible author****. I've been watching season 8 over and you guys have been waiting, SORROW IS MY MIDDLE NAME! **_**But**_** you guys like Tatyanna and Hunter, YESH! Love, love, love to my readers and reviewers:**

Robern

smush68

1Styx and Stones1

ShadowEar

aoki-reiko **(You're not the only one with a crush on Hunter…he's like the most perfect male specimen ever created! I love him toooooo!)**

**So, are y'all ready for this dang hot chappie? I actually don't know how hot it'll be, but whatevs.**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot<em>:_ Tony and Ziva's hands, each holding half of a cell phone._

* * *

><p>Julia McLaughlin had been on her cell phone the whole way to the Naval hospital, alternating between listening, talking, sniffling, and cracking her knuckles. She was one of those people with a naturally pale complexion, but she looked just about as pale as her dying sister.<p>

Standing next to Julia in the elevator, Tony realized she was a lot taller then he had thought at first, she and her sister were both probably closing in on five foot ten or eleven. Julia was obviously nervous, but she also didn't give off the air of a confident person.

In truth, Julia had always been the backwards twin. She hadn't been born the right way, and things seemed to go downhill from there. She was always the tallest kid in her class but stood in the shadow of her sister in academically as well as socially. Julia was that girl sitting alone a the corner lunch table with a book while her sister was the queen of the center table with a dozen boys hanging off her every word.

They didn't get along all the time (there had been multiple fights that had ended with broken windows, toys, and even bones) but they protected each other to the death. If Megan caught anybody making fun of her sister, they were likely to have their head handed to them.

"This is her room," Hunter said gently, prodding Julia out of her daydream.

Nodding timidly, Julia pushed the door back, took a step inside, then burst into tears and ran to her sister. "What happened?" she cried.

Hunter and Tony exchanged a glance. To tell or not. "She was kidnapped and held in a house in rural Virginia."

"Oh my God," Julia whispered, glancing back at her sister.

"And she wasn't the only one," Hunter said gently, "We have evidence that there were ten others with her."

Julia gasped again, "What happened to them?"

"Nine are missing and unaccounted for, one is in our custody," Tony supplied. The evidence in question was DNA, fingerprints, and hair samples collected (and still being collected) from the Carney House.

Julia looked like she was going to be sick as Tony continued, "I'm going to need you to tell me about the last time you saw you sister. How was she acting the day she disappeared?"

She took a deep, shuttering breath, "It was about six months ago in early June…"

_Flashback:_

"_Are you coming or not?" Megan's demanding voice shouted from the ground below. _

_Julia shook her head, readjusting her position on the warm roof. The day was surprisingly cool, with electric blue skies and a light breeze. The roof was a perfect temperature and she was utterly content to remain stretched out just beyond the open window with her book._

"_Why not?" Megan whined._

"_Because I don't want to be a third wheel you and your friends, it's kinda annoying to tell you the truth."_

"_But I have someone I want you to meet-" Megan began._

"_Liar. You have someone you want to meet. Me being there is just a plus so you can show whoever how much cooler you are than your sister."_

_She threw up her hands, "You're crazy but, whatever! I tried; be antisocial if you want, see if I care that you're gonna die alone with seventy-four cats!"  
><em>

_Julia threw a half-full water bottle with surprising accuracy, catching her sister in the back of the head. Spinning around, Megan screamed several choice words and with a choice gesture disappeared down the street. At the corner, she waved at an old red pick-up truck, talked with the driver for a second then hopped inside._

_End Flashback_

"And that's the last time any of us saw her. The truck was stolen from a junkyard and they found it abandoned two days later about seventy miles from our house," she finished. "God, why did I let her get into that truck? I thought it was just one of her friends…"

Hunter squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, "You couldn't have known."

She pulled away and turned back to her sister, "Have you found the…_bastard_ who put her here?"

Tony shook his head, "We will."

"Then get to it," Julia croaked, sounding a lot like Gibbs, "he can't gonna do this to anyone else's sister or daughter."

* * *

><p>Lacey was swinging her legs happily while she ate a bowl of chicken noodle soup, one of those little microwaveable cups, when Gibbs' phone rang, "Yeah, Gibbs."<p>

He listened for a minute, then nodded, "Okay Abs, I'll be right there."

Glancing at Lacey, now munching on peanut butter crackers, he had to smile. Such a cute kid. "Lacey, do you want to take this back to my desk? I need to go talk to Abby."

Nodding, she grabbed the crackers and her jacket, leaving Gibbs to carry the liquids. The pair was one that made even the most hardened of the agents smile a little. Little Lacey in her baggy baby jeans leading the way with half a dozen mismatched markers and a notebook under one arm, her jacket dragging behind her, little fist wrapped around the crackers, with Gibbs trailing behind like a foreboding guardian angel.

She trotted confidently into the squad room and climbed carefully into Gibbs' chair, planting herself firmly in the center. She happily surrounded herself with her newfound toys and didn't bat an eye when Gibbs told her that he'd be right back. Tatyanna however, did. "Keep an eye on her," he had commanded gruffly.

Tatyanna didn't like children. They were just annoying life forms that should be locked up until they were old enough to realize when they should shut up (which would be all the time in her mind). She nodded at Gibbs, who had noticed her rather interesting attire, but ignored it, and then watched Lacey for a minute.

Lacey was silent and she seemed to be perfectly content to munch on her crackers and hum softly to herself. What kind of person could leave a sweet little thing like her tied to a bed in abandoned house? Whoever he or she was, they had better watch their back.

* * *

><p>"What do ya got for me Abs?" Gibbs asked as he sauntered into the room.<p>

"Well, I have all the samples from the house. There were at least fourteen people who were in and out of that house. There were eleven in the room where you found Lacey. I also have a few partial prints from a coupled of the dirty plates in the sink. I'm running them but nothing so far."

"Is that what you called me down here to tell me?"

Abby looked mildly insulted, "There's more," tapping a few keys on her computer, two pictures popped up.

The first picture had been scanned into the system and the edges were partially burned. The second picture graced the page of a wanted poster. "Gibbs, meet the corporal's ex and Timmy/Ziva's assailant, Wayne Talbot."

Gibbs nodded, "Where'd you get the burnt picture?"

"Ava Esposito."

Gibbs didn't bother to ask the Goth to explain further, "Send that picture to Tony and tell him to show it to Ziva. He should still be at the hospital with the McLaughlin girl."

Abby nodded, her fingers flying across the keys. Gibbs made his way to the elevator, shouting directions to Tatyanna to put out a BOLO all the while. As the elevator doors closed, he shut his phone and smiled a little. They were getting close; he could feel it in his gut.

* * *

><p>The nurse at the nurse's station said that ZIva was awake, but Tony knocked softly anyway. "Enter," a voice command hoarsely from inside.<p>

Tony flung back the door and greeted his partner jovially, "How are you feeling?"

Well enough to roll her eyes, "Sore."

"That's what you get for getting yourself trapped in a collapsing mine shaft."

"I will kill you slowly," Ziva growled.

Tony just smiled indulgently, "Well, Abby sent me a picture and she wants you too look at it. It might be the man that you were chasing."

Ziva nodded and held out her hand. Tony gently placed in her hand, careful to avoid the gadgets she was strapped to. Staring at the phone for a long minute, she sighed and leaned back against bed, handing his phone back to him, "That is him."

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot<em>:_ Tony and Ziva's hands, each holding half of a cell phone._

* * *

><p><strong>There, that took way longer than it should have. I was doing the last part and the Word kept closing and NOT saving anything. Errr. <strong>

**Reviews?**

**~S**


	14. Chapter 13

**Greetings Earthlings. This is Agent Striker coming to you on vacation time. That's right people, Striker's got a FULL WEEK of Spring Break, much to the dismay of clover janks, who has three days. HAHA! I'm evil, wacked out, and crazy, I know. Any hoo, I think that this story is nearing the end, maybe 15 chapters because I like nice looking numbers. It's not going like I had in mind, it's pretty crappy if you ask me. OH WELL. I'll finish it, cry, and then start another story. **

**LOL, wanna hear something funny? Well, I got my mother a season 1-8 DVD set of NCIS from a reputable site AND IT'S BOOTLEGGED. Sometimes it has horribly spelled subtitles(they make ME look like a good speller), mislabeled disks and all the rest. It's great. I love wasting 150 buck. Woohoo. **

**A special thanks to my REVIEWER **Kikilia14**. ONWARD AND UPWARD!**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Gibbs' and Tony's backs looking down a dark stairwell at the shadowy figures half in and half out of the light of their flashlights.<em>

* * *

><p>"Are you <em>sure <em>you're feeling okay?"

Timothy McGee nodded at Abby from the screen of her laptop. She had dropped off his own laptop off at the hospital and was now keeping a twenty-four 'guard' on him from her lab. True, it was a nice thought, but he wasn't getting much sleep. "I'm absolutely fine Abby, you don't have to keep checking up on me."

Abby grinned and hopped out of view for a minute, pigtails bouncing, "I am making sure that I don't loose you again…would you be opposed to me giving you a GPS tracking ID?"

McGee rolled his eyes, "I would be very opposed to that."

Popping back into view, Abby was now holding something about the side of an Aspirin, "But look how small it is, it would barely hurt at all!"

"Abby-" Tim began.

Abby pulled her puppy dog eyes and interrupted him, "I'm just looking out for you Timmy."

He hated it when she did that; she knew that he couldn't say no to the puppy eyes. He sighed, "I'll think about it."

Abby threw herself at the computer and gave it a hug, giving McGee a good view down her very low shirt and thoughts that made him blush. "You're the best Timmy!" Still grinning, she let go of the computer, "Oh, weren't you supposed to be getting some sleep?"

McGee nodded, his eye lids were taking on a mind of their own and were barely remaining open.

Abby shook her head, "Well then, put your computer on the table beside you and mute it so I don't keep you awake silly."

McGee followed her instructions and within thirty seconds a gentle snore escaped his lips and he was asleep.

Abby shook her head with a smile and said to herself, "I always said you were adorable when you were asleep Timmy, glad to see that hasn't changed."

"I'd ask about that, but I'm not sure I really want to know," a voice said from behind Abby.

"Director!" Abby gasped, "Why do you insist on sneaking into my lab and spying on me?" To her self, Abby muttered, "I really need to get to work on my Director Detector."

Director Shepard just laughed, "I'm sorry Abby. I just came down to see how you were doing and tell you that Gibbs and his team are on the way to a house in Virginia where Talbot's car was spotted."

"I'm fine," Abby said fiercely, covertly checking on McGee every other word, "Why didn't Gibbs come and tell me himself?"

"They left in quite a hurry," Jenny said, walking casually closer to the Goth, "and your phone was off the hook."

All the stuff piled on Abby's desk _had _pushed the phone onto the floor and out of sight but Abby was sure there was another reason that the director came to visit. "Is there anything else?" She asked politely.

The director shook her head, "No, nothing else." And with that the director turned to head back to the elevator.

Abby watched her for a minute, still confuse as to why the director was checking up on her. She shook her head and turned back to her work, pigtails bouncing, "People are crazy Timmy, absolutely insane…especially when it comes to people they love or even just care about," she closed her eyes for a moment, "Please get better fast Timmy, you're driving me up the walls. And just so you know, I think I- I think I more than just care about you."

* * *

><p>"There is no way this is legal," Tony muttered to no one in particular as he sat back on his haunches, gun drawn outside of the house where Wayne Talbot's eighty-nine Mustang sat in the middle of the Virginia backwoods, not very far from the Carney House.<p>

Gibbs remained silent, but Hunter nodded, "I'm not really sure how she got into NCIS and _stays _there. She breaks laws every other second on a good day."

The she in question was no other than Tatyanna Rodríguez, who had just finished crawling across the ground on her stomach and was now using a pry bar to jack the car. At the moment, they didn't have a search warrant but that wasn't stopping Tatyanna.

She was planning to start the car to draw the 'perp' out of the house so that Gibb and Hunter, who were moving around the back, could clear the house and she and Tony could catch Mr. Wayne Talbot. Who named their kids Wayne anyway?

Gibbs had gone along with the plan figuring that it was the best way to draw Talbot out of the house; he probably wasn't going to waltz out if they knocked at the front door.

At the exact moment the old car roared to life, Gibbs and Hunter took off running for the back steps of the little cabin as a curse emitted from inside of the walls. A man's voice could be heard as well as a woman's. Gibbs kicked the door opened with amazing force, shouting, "NCIS! Federal agents!" just as Tony was echoing the words outside.

The gunfire that came next was unexpected, but taken care of easily. The man, Wayne Talbot, had a pistol tucked in the waistband of his pants and only got off one shot before Gibbs tackled him in a fit of adrenalin and rage. The chick, a skinny bleached-blonde, got four shots off in Hunter's direction before Tatyanna tackled her from behind in what Tony would later describe as the best chick fight of the century.

The chick didn't know it at the time, but there was nothing Tatyanna hated more than when people shot at her partner, it really pissed her off, "You. Do. Not. Shoot. At. My. Partner. Without. Consequences. Slut," Tatyanna grunted as she subdued the woman.

The woman replied something a lot less than lady like and that was when Tatyanna 'accidently' hit her really hard. So hard in fact that her nose 'got broken on acccident'. Smiling at the blood running down the suspect's face, all Tatyanna said was, "Oops, did I hurt your nose? My bad."

Even Gibbs got a good laugh out of that one. He shoved Talbot towards Hunter, "You and Rodríguez take these two back to the car, we're gonna search this place from the attic to the basement."

Hunter nodded and he, Tatyanna and the prisoners disappeared. Tony was already heading for the basement steps that were in the corner of the kitchen where the short fight had taken place, "I'll start down in the basement."

Gibbs nodded and followed him; the older man had no inclination to let his agent go someplace alone again. This case had already put most of his team out of commission for the time being.

Together, the two agents eased their guns from their holsters and crept down the stairs. The first thing that either of them noticed was the complete and utter lack of light. The second was the smell of fear and human waste. There was definitely someone down there.

"Federal agents?" Tony called down cautiously shining his flashlight around the stairwell.

Gibbs gave Tony a firm shove and the agents began their descent. However, they didn't get very far. "Stay where you are if you value your lives," a voice that sounded like it hadn't been used in a while rasped from below.

"We're here to help you, not hurt you," Gibbs said, his eyes straining despite the light from the two flashlights.

"How do we know you're not lyin' to us?" another voice, this one much closer demanded.

Gibbs shrugged, "You don't. You're just gonna have to trust us."

Suddenly, there was a clatter followed by several severe hissed 'Be quite's. The room seemed to erupt in whispers then the first voice called out again, "Put your guns on the stairs and we'll see about that trust."

Gibbs and Tony did as they were instructed, and stood for a moment, still holding the flashlights. Slowly, the shadows seemed to come alive. Nine girls appeared around the steps, most of their faces still hidden by the shadows. Some of them were tall, some sort, some young, the oldest was maybe sixteen, a few were African American, a few were white, one's matted mass of hair brushed the ground. The only thing they had in common was long set of shackles that they were all locked in to and the looks of fear that their eyes couldn't quite hide.

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Gibbs' and Tony's backs looking down a dark stairwell at the shadowy figures half in and half out of the light of their flashlights.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, it's been decided. There will be two more chapters (That will hopefully be up before the end of the month, cross your fingers!). Chapter 14 will sum up the case, deal with the loose ends, etc.…and would you guys like a meeting of Tatyanna, Hunter, Ziva, and McGee? I think I might…but anyway, chapter 15 will be an epilogue of sorts and I feel that there's gonna be a lot a fluff. <strong>

**Cool beans? **

**Review please! **

**Love, **

**Striker **


	15. Chapter 14

**Wanna hear a funny story? Remember the bogus DVDs I was whining about getting? Well, we complained to the company and got our money back PLUS twenty-five more dollars. For free, I can live with the occasional subtitles. WINNING. **

**Thanks to my readers and reviewers:**

1Styx and Stones1

Kikilia14

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Tony sitting on Ziva's hospital bed with a glass of champagne in one hand and his cell phone in the other.<em>

* * *

><p>The two agents exchanged glances before they cautiously worked their way down the rickety old stairs. Gun still extended, Tony cautiously felt around the wall for a light switch. Finding the switch on the wall behind him, he flipped it on.<p>

Instantly, he wished he hadn't. The room may have smelled bad, but it looked worse. In one of the far corners, a hole in the dirt floor was masquerading as a toilet and a pile of dirty rags in the far corner looked to be the bed for all nine of the girls. One of them still lay there, one leg stretched out awkwardly to accommodate the chain that connected her to the rest of the group. Aside from that, the room was bare.

Tony was glad that the two suspects were in the car. Gibbs looked like he _really _wanted to shoot someone…and Tony didn't blame him.

"Who did you two say you were again?" A voice with a thick southern draw twanged. The girl at the far end of the fetter, a skinny green-eyed brunette, was apparently the leader of the rag-tag gang.

"We're NCIS," Tony said, holstering his weapon and squatting down to take a closer look at the shackle.

In union, all the standing girls took at hop backwards away from the agents. One of them, the one with the really long hair, was now chattering in a high-pitched voice in what Tony thought was maybe Spanish, looking more terrified by the second.

"Yo me llamo Tony," Tony said with a grin, reaching back to his Spanish One days.

Instantly, the girl burst into tears. "Uh," Tony looked around desperately for some sort of distraction; he couldn't handle crying kids, especially not girls. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a somewhat linty strawberry Life Saver. "Would you like a piece of candy?" he asked, waving it out in front of him.

Just as quickly as her tears started, they dried up and she snatched the candy, ripped off the wrapper and shoved it into her mouth with a grin.

By this time, Gibbs had the shackles off all the girls but Tony's new best friend and he stood over the girl in the corner. She was a tiny little thing, reminded him a lot of Lacey, but her hair was a soft blonde. Lying in the center of the blankets, she was curled up tightly, her eyes scrunched up as if to block out the horrors around her. Gibbs gently unlocked the shackle and felt her neck for a pulse.

There wasn't one.

* * *

><p>Three hours later, all of the girls had been bathed, clothed, fed, and tucked into hospital beds in Bethesda Naval Hospital. Five of them had parents or grandparents who had been contacted and were currently on their way, the youngest two didn't know anything other their names and Abby was running through the Missing Persons files, and the hospital staff was still trying to get a translator who spoke any form of Mayan dialect. Needless to say, it wasn't very easy.<p>

Adana Mendoza, the oldest brunette who had been interrogating Gibbs when he and Tony arrived, had the most detailed account of the events that had transpired. She had been kidnapped from her grandparents' home in Arizona almost two years ago when she was thirteen. She had been driven north hidden in the back of a semi for almost two weeks.

After that, she had been taken to a warehouse where there had been seventy or more other girls in different rooms. After maybe a month, the entire warehouse was cleared out and the girls loaded on to eight or nine different trucks. Other than the ten girls she had been in the truck with, she never saw any of the others again.

They had been in the same large house for nearly a year, and then a week and a half ago, they were all suddenly hustled into the back of a regular pickup truck. They had left two behind. Adana confirmed the two names, Megan and Lacey, and also gave some insight as to why they had been left behind. Lacey, the little one their captors hated, had been deemed 'unfit for selling'. Megan had only been at the house for about five months, and she hadn't 'learned the rules yet'.

Adana had shaken her head solemnly, "She just couldn't keep her mouth shut. She had to go and tell 'em to go to hell. She shoulda known better."

Gibbs had conducted the interviews in his gentle, silent manner, not forcing anything out of the girls but the way he stalked into the interrogation room where Wayne Talbot had been waiting for three hours, Tony was betting this interrogation was going to be…explosive, to put it mildly.

* * *

><p>"So, we finally get to see the fabled 'Gibbs Interrogation,' " Tatyanna Rodríguez cackled happily, rubbing her hands together in glee. Since her escapade in her partner's shirt, she had stolen a t-shirt from a desk of a random agent between her desk and Interrogation.<p>

Tony gave her an odd look, "What do you know about Gibbs' interrogation technique?"

"We hear things about Washington, even way down the Panhandle," Hunter grinned.

Looking rather confused, Tony opened his mouth just to be shushed by Rodríguez, "He's starting!"

Gibbs had spent only about five minutes giving the suspect his 'true loathing' face. He was way to pissed-off to be patient. He leaned back in his chair, thinking he was going to enjoy breaking this sucker almost as much his team was going to enjoy watching it.

"Are we going to sit here all day or you gonna ask me a question or something?" Wayne Talbot asked, coolly glancing around the room, giving of an aura of being very nonchalant about this whole arrest thing.

"Well, why don't we start with you explaining how you knew Corporal Lee?"

Talbot shrugged, "An ex. Not to great in the bedroom if ya wanna know the truth. We were just business partners for the last couple years."

Gibbs nodded, "Alright, next question, why you had eight little girls locked in your basement?"

Talbot grinned wickedly, leaning forward like Gibbs was an old friend he was telling a half-assed secret to, "I didn't know they were there. They must have crawled through a hole in the wall."

Gibbs resisted the urge to bash his face in. He nodded, "So why was one of them dead?"

Talbot seemed to pale a little, but he kept on grinning, "Those kids looked a lot like sewer rats. They die all the time. It's not like they're worth anything to society."

He really should have stopped at 'sewer rats'. In a flash, Gibbs was across the table and had the scumbag against the wall, his hand at his slimy throat, "What kind of a person looks at a six year old girl and is physically capable of starving her to death in his basement while he eats steak upstairs? You're a piece of filth, and you have exactly ten seconds to tell me who your boss is, what you're doing with these girls, and where the rest of them are or else I will break you neck."

Talbot snickered, which sounded more like he was choking, and grinned his buck-teeth at Gibbs, "You can't kill me, it's against the law."

Gibbs leaned menacingly closer to Talbot's face, whispering in a deep, terrifying tone, tightening his grip with each word, "And you think that any judge in the entire world have any sympathy for a child-abusing piece of scum like you? You've got seven seconds."

Talbot was starting to sweat and his lips were looking rather blue, "Alright," he rasped finally, "Alright, I'll tell ya! His name is Ronnie Montoya, he sells the brats for a couple grand a pop for slaves or whatever the buyer wants and I don't know where any of the others are, I only get information on my shipment. There are ten guys across the country who do the same thing I do. I'm just a middle man, I just deliver the kids and pick up the money!"

Selling children into slavery, or worse, every person in the room shuttered and Gibbs could hardly bear to let go of the dirt bag's neck. But with one final squeeze, he did. Talbot collapsed to the floor as Gibbs grabbed the file from where he had dropped it on the table.

Ignoring the cries of indignation behind him, he stalked from the room, leaving some of the younger agents to escort the prisoner back to hell where he belonged.

* * *

><p>Lacey grinned like crazy when Gibbs finally got back to his desk. She held up a picture and suddenly it felt like the problems of the day had been lifted of his shoulders, for a minute at least. The picture was of one tall, gray haired stick figure holding the hand of a shorter one with brown curls and both were smiling.<p>

Gibbs knelt beside his desk, "Is this us?"

Lacey nodded enthusiastically, then reached into the pile of her drawings and pulled out another picture.

This one made Gibbs laugh out loud. It was his team, through the eyes of a child. There was the director with her spikey orange hair, Ducky with glasses and a bow tie, Abby drawn all in black, Palmer next to Ducky, and Tony in the back with a ridiculous grin on his face. Even Tatyanna Rodríguez and Hunter Allen stood together in the back. "I'd really like to hang these two up, is that alright with you?"

Lacey nodded and pointed to the empty space on the divider behind his desk where she thought her artwork should hang. "Good choice."

All the while Gibbs and Lacey were hanging up artwork, Jen stood leaning against the railing upstairs, watching them; Gibbs' talent with children never ceased to amaze her.

Glancing at the file in her hand, she steeled herself for what she had to do next. "Agent Gibbs," she called down, "Can you come up here, I need to speak with you."

Both Lacey and Gibbs looked up at the sound of her voice. Gibbs said something to Lacey, patted her gently on the back, and then headed towards the stairs at a jog, clearly in a good mood.

"What's up Jen?" he asked with _that _smile again.

She held out the folder to him, "I just got this from Abby," He skimmed over it quickly, his emotionless façade descending as what he had just read sunk in. "That bastard," he cursed, spinning around and retracing his steps down the stairs, Jenny just behind him.

"Jethro! Wait-" Jen stopped herself, it there would be no stopping him now.

She went to his desk instead, smiling sweetly at the little girl. "Hello, Lacey. Will you show me what you're drawing?"

* * *

><p>After Talbot's first interrogation, Tony had slipped out of the NCIS building. He stopped only once to grab a dozen roses, a bottle of champagne, chocolates, and a 'Get Well Soon' balloon. He even had the mind to put two wine glasses and a cork-screw into his bundle. The case was closed. And he was going to wow his partner with all the goodies and the tale of the case itself.<p>

"Hello my ninja!" He said, sweeping into her room with his most charming grin.

She dropped the novel she had been reading to her lap, "_What _is all of that?"

"Gifts," he said, handing them her one by one.

She cocked a dark eyebrow in his direction, "And why, pray tell, did you bring me gifts?"

He flashed another smile, holding up the champagne, "Champagne?"

"You are ignoring the question."

He reached into his pocket for a cork-shrew, "I'll take that as a yes."

"Tony," Ziva began as Tony opened the bottle with exaggerated flourish.

"Zee-vah," Tony mocked, handing her the glass.

She took a sip without taking her eyes off of him. He sighed and plopped down on the bed beside her. "We solved the case."

Her eyes flashed something, but whatever it was was covered up as quickly as it had appeared, "Tell me about it."

Tony launched into a drawn out oracle that would have made Ducky proud, pausing only to refill his or Ziva's glass, take a sip of the champagne, or to answer a question. He was just getting to the part about Gibbs' interrogation when his cell phone rang. He listened for a second and his face got a little paler, "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

"What is it?"

Tony cringed, "Gibbs. They got some new lintel on Lacey."

"What?" she asked again.

"She's Talbot's and Corporal Lee's daughter."

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Tony sitting on Ziva's hospital bed with a glass of champagne in one hand and his cell phone in the other.<em>

* * *

><p><strong>There. Did ya see <strong>_**that **_**coming?**

**The next chapter will be the last, it will wrap everything up nice and neat!**

**~Striker **


	16. Chapter 15

**THE END IS HERE! Muhahaha, that was creepy, sorry. Anyways, here's the FINAL chapter! **

**Thanks to my readers and reviewers:**

1Styx and Stones1

**You guys helped me make it through this story; I love you all more than my boyfriend! Oh wait, I am forever alone and I do not have a boyfriend. MY BAD.**

* * *

><p><em>Snapshot: Jenny and Jethro.<em>

* * *

><p>After Gibbs' second interrogation, Talbot managed to cough up more information on the child-slavery ring. One hundred and six girls, ages six to nineteen were located from across the country, with the locations of seventy to eighty girls more in the works. The eight girls who had been in Talbot's basement at the time of his arrest had all been returned safely to their homes.<p>

The little blonde who had died however, remained unidentified.

It took Megan McLaughlin nine weeks to make a full recovery but soon after her parents arrived at the hospital she came out of her coma. It was one of those Kodiak moments, Girl wakes up from coma, sees parents and estranged sister, and suddenly everything is all better. She made a full deposition as to what went on in the House of Horrors, and her testimony helped send the ring of criminals to jail.

The final day of the trail had dawned bright and clear, and everyone involved came out of the court house smiling. The ordeal was over; the criminals behind bars, and all seemed to be right in the world.

It was a bittersweet moment for more than one reason, however. That day was Lacey's last day in Gibbs' care. She stood with the group outside of the courthouse, her little hand grasping his, all her earthly belongings tucked neatly into a backpack at her feet. She was going to be living with the McLaughlin family, something that had made her grin crazily when Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin had first proposed it.

Now as she watched the chatting adults, she seemed to shrink closer to Gibbs. He smiled reassuringly at her. Mrs. McLaughlin smiled at her husband and two daughters then at the newest member of her household, "Are you all ready to go home?"

Megan and Julia nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, please!"

Mr. McLaughlin smiled at his family, agreeing as well, "I agree. How about we stop for ice cream on the way home?"

There was more enthusiastic 'yeses'. All eyes turned to Gibbs and Lacey, "Are you ready to go, Lacey honey?" Mrs. McLaughlin asked gently.

Lacey's wide blue eyes were filling with tears, but she wiped them away with the sleeve of her dress.

Gibbs kneeled to her level, looking her straight in the eyes. He spoke softly so no one but Lacey heard what he said, "We talked about this, remember?"

Curt nod of a little brunet head.

"And you promised to be a big girl for me, no tears."

Another nod.

"You don't have to be sad, we'll get to see each other any time we want to okay?"

Nod.

"So can you give me a big Lacey smile? I want to remember smiles, not tears."

Lacey nodded a final time, wiping at her eyes and smiling at Gibbs with all her little heart. She had no idea how much it was breaking his own heart.

He stood up and handed her little bag to Mr. McLaughlin with a smile, knowing at least four copies of his business card were floating around in there somewhere, along with some old crayons and borrowed clothes.

"Thank you so much, for everything," Mrs. McLaughlin said, wrapping her arms around each of the team members before they had a chance to protest. She looked back at her family, "Alright guys, we've got ice cream to eat, let's go!"

Megan and Julia each took one of Lacey's hands and together they skipped towards the blue McLaughlin SUV. The whole team, Jenny, Ducky, Palmer, Abby, McGee, Ziva, Tony, Gibbs, and even Tatyanna and Hunter, watched as the family loaded into the car. Lacey pulled her hands back from the sisters just before she climbed into the back seat of the car. She turned and surveyed the team for a long minute, "Bye Gibbs! Come see me soon!"

Then, as though nothing monumental had happened, she scampered into the car, leaving everyone who'd ever met her stunned.

So the little mute girl wasn't as mute as they had thought.

* * *

><p>One by one, or two by two to be more accurate, the team began to wonder off. Tatyanna and Hunter were needed back in the Miami office, something about a possible serial killer, "He cuts the victims hair then slits their throats," Tatyanna said, clapping her hands excitedly, "He's like a real-life Sweeny Todd!"<p>

Hunter rolled his eyes, "Only you would be excited for this kind of a case." He smiled graciously at the team, shaking hands with everyone. "It was quite an experience working with y'all. Don't hesitate to drop in if you're ever in Miami."

Tatyanna was writing her number on Ziva's hand. Since they had met that morning in court, the two had found they had a lot in common, a talent for learning languages for one. "Call me, Zeeeee-vahhh," she said with a dramatic wave.

Ziva laughed, adding something in some language that Tony couldn't decipher, waving back as the two Miami agents disappeared into their rented Charger.

The remaining team stood for a minute before Palmer stuttered something about a date, and slipped away. Ducky closely followed him; it was WWE RAW night in the Mallard house and the dogs still needed to be walked.

Abby grabbed McGee and yanked him towards her car, she was still wary about letting him out of her sight, "Come on McGrumpy, I'll buy the coffee."

"Abby, come on, I have a lot of work to catch up on-" he never got to finish his statement, one look of death from Gibbs and a pair of puppy eyes from Abby and he had folded. He sighed dramatically, "Alright, I could use some coffee-"

Abby squealed, flinging one of her famous hugs on her best friend, "I knew you'd say yes Timmy!"

They disappeared into the parking lot as well; only the occasional bouncing black pigtail could be seen.

"I too should be heading home," Ziva said, stretching her arms above her head, "There is a pile of laundry the size of an elephant waiting for me at home." She waved and started towards her car.

"I gotta go too," Tony said, checking his watch, "The Bourne Movie Marathon is on tonight, don't wanna miss that. See ya tomorrow boss. And Director."

He left with a jaunty wave, but didn't head directly towards his own car. Jen and Gibbs watched with some amusement as he jogged to catch up with Ziva. Though they couldn't hear all of what was being said, they could fill in the blanks.

"Hey, Zee-vah. How about you skip the laundry and do a movie-slash-dinner with me."

Ziva looked dubious, "Why would I want to do that?"

Tony looked thoughtful, "Because I'm a great cook and I might have the newest Pirates of the Caribbean on my Netflix."

Ziva snorted, "You cook, that's a laugh."

Tony shrugged, still grinning, "Well, I do call for takeout really well."

Ziva bent to unlock her car door, "I don't know, I am very tired-"

"Johnny Depp. Sweet and Sour Chicken."

Ziva stood back, weighing her options, "Alright right, you have twisted my leg."

"Arm, twisted your arm."

"No, it's 'Pulled your arm' and 'Twisted your leg' stupid. You are confused."

Tony snorted loudly, "English is my _first _language. You're the confused one."

The unspoken agreement of taking her car let them continue the conversation until they were still out of sight of the final remaining team members.

Jenny glanced at her old partner, "It's been a long week, huh?"

He nodded, "Yep."

They stood for a moment longer before Jenny made up her mind, "How 'bout I buy you dinner?"

"Sweet and Sour Chicken?" Gibbs joked with a smile.

She rolled her eyes with a flirtatious grin, "I was actually thinking that little steak place in Georgetown, but if you prefer Chinese…"

He hooked his arm hers, "Nope, steak is fine."

She laughed, "Remember the last time we were there? And that Russian mobster shot out the front window…?"

They walked towards his car in a fog of memories, happily pretending that they were still partners without a care in the world. For in that moment they weren't Special Agent Gibbs and Director Shepard, boss and employ, they were simply Jenny and Jethro.

_Snapshot: Jenny and Jethro._

The End.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow, that came out a lot better than I anticipated. I might do another full length NCIS fic sometime, I have a few ideas. Add me to your author alert!<strong>

**Lots of love guys, **

**Au Revior!**

**~Stiker **


End file.
